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Catalonia's triple leadership: Higher taxes, higher spending on politicians and worse government
Rarely does a triplet like the one described, as documented and supported as the one at the head of this article, converge in an autonomous region. The largest tax burden in the developed world Or in other words, Catalans pay more taxes than anyone else. These are the data from the latest report from the Instituto de Estudios Económicos (IEE). Especially bleak is the graph of regulatory tax pressure, which indicates that the area of the world where people are paid the least is Estonia, followed by Latvia, and the area of the world subject to the greatest tax burden is Catalonia, followed by Italy and Chile. To give us an idea, the tax burden in Madrid is 86% higher than that of Estonia, while the tax burden in Catalonia is 186.8% higher than that of Estonia and slightly less than double that of Madrid. In short, right now for the Catalans the definition of "tax haven" is "anywhere outside of Catalonia". This is the report prepared by the IEE: https://www.ieemadrid.es/wp-content/uploads/IEE-Opinion.-La-competitividad-fiscal-de-las-comunidades-autonomas.pdf The community with the worst government in Spain This is what emerges from the European Quality of Government Index of 2021 prepared by the Quality of Government Institute of Goteborg. In its latest report, it attributes the worst quality of government and the highest rate of corruption to Catalonia, which snatches the position from Andalusia, which in 2017 was the worst government with a score that was double the Catalan during the term of Susana Díaz and just before the attempt unilateral secession in Catalonia. Since then the negative Andalusian note has moderated slightly (going from -0.675 to -0.654) while the Catalan note has worsened, going from -0.303 to a chilling -0.837. You can consult the full report at this link: https://www.gu.se/sites/default/files/2021-05/2021_4_%20Charron_Lapuente_Bauhr.pdf and see the interactive graph here: https://qog01-p.gu.gu.se/shiny/users/xalvna/qog/eqi_map/ The highest spending on politicians in Spain With 15.68 million euros in salaries for its highest officials, Catalonia holds the undisputed leadership in terms of how much politicians cost citizens. Although the highest salaries correspond to positions in Madrid (€ 92,004 compared to € 87,577 in Catalonia), the fact that there are 179 high positions in Catalonia compared to 114 in Madrid means that the total cost in Madrid is 10.49 million euros compared to 15.68 million in Catalonia. So, in Catalonia politicians cost half more than in Madrid, something that we have known the same month in which Artur Mas retires with a pension of € 7,662 per month. On this occasion the report has been sent to El Confidencial by the Ministerio de Política Territorial y Función Pública, and you can access it at this link: https://www.elconfidencial.com/espana/2020-02-17/sueldos- senior-positions-autonomous-communities_2452403/ The conclusion is devastating. In Catalonia they pay more taxes than anyone else in the world and they have the worst autonomous government in Spain in which they spend more money than the citizens of any other community. It's hardly surprising that Catalonia also stands out in a fourth section: The lowest turnout in history in the last regional elections. It seems clear that the disagreement between the Catalans and their politicians is also of record. Leer másWhy does nationalism insist on expelling the National Police of Catalonia?
This Thursday a massive concentration has taken place (to the extent that compliance with sanitary measures allows it) in response to the threats of the new Catalan nationalist government headed by Pere Aragonés to evict the National Police from the iconic Vía Layetana police station. This intention is an habitual claim of the nationalists, supported by the mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, who has insisted on several occasions on this eviction, with the intention of turning the current Superior Police Headquarters into a kind of interpretation center of Francoism, period with which an attempt is made to link the police force. Wide variety of associations If something has distinguished this concentration from others, it's the diversity of political parties, unions and associations, large and small, that it has brought together. Police unions such as JUPOL, associations such as Catalunya Suma or Espanoles de a Pie, even recently formed political parties, such as the Party of Order and Law (POLE), which after appearing in the regional elections in Madrid could be preparing its implementation in Catalonia. Why does nationalism want to expel the National Police? It's well known that the nationalist parties consider the state police forces as "occupation forces", and very especially the National Police and the Civil Guard, while the Mossos d'Esquadra force is considered "our police" by nationalists (although they also have their issues with them). The most used excuse for such enmity is the state representation implied by the National Police together with its past ties to the Franco regime, but beyond these extravagant arguments (which would imply that all the current police are "stained" by francoism) they could hide much less idealistic motives. For example, according to a recent report by the European Govern Quality Institute, Catalonia is the region with the worst government in Spain and in that rating one of the main values is corruption. It was corruption that disarmed Jordi Pujol's eldest son from being his political successor, which made him have to replace him with Artur Mas and possibly gave rise to the "procés", as politicians such as Miguel Angel Revilla asserted at the time. It was also corruption that dismembered Mas's party and exposed a myriad of corruption cases (3%, Palau, ITVs, expired prostheses, diversions of aid to the third world, etc.) that have spread to their successor parties, being the number one of JuntsXCat, Laura Borràs investigated for corruption, something that already seems a tradition in post-convergent militancy. And all these corruption scandals have one thing in common: they have been investigated by the National Police and the Civil Guard. The Mossos d'Esquadra force has never brought to light a single case of corruption that affects the nationalist government, since although it has many committed and efficient agents, the politicization of the force increases with rank according to testimonies from several interviewees. It's easy to guess that with the disappearance of the National Police and the Civil Guard, no one would investigate corruption in Catalonia. That could be one of the determining factors that drive nationalism to seek the complicity of the Pedro Sánchez government to eliminate that obstacle. However, the main defenders of the Police do not intend to remain silent in the face of such a threat, which is why the police union JUPOL has launched a campaign on Change.org seeking support to prevent the eviction. A campaign that so far has achieved 70,000 signatures. Leer másThe Generalitat backs down with the rallies before the wave of criticism
It was already a lousy idea from the health point of view, but it also meant a huge miscalculation from the point of view of the image of the nationalist leaders and their perception by the voters, since they have made clear the priorities of a power that prioritizes electoral calculations avobe the health of its citizens, almost a year after the controversial macro-contagion in Perpignan (revealed in the CatCovidTransparencia report). This time the Government's miscalculation has been so enormous that possibly even the rectification is no longer capable of avoiding the damage it has inflicted on its own image. Because after setting the electoral date on February 14 (in the middle of the pandemic), the Generalitat reacted to the change of candidate of the PSC (which some call "The Illa effect") with a hasty decree of postponement that left open the possibility of delaying the date even more, written in such a childish way that two complaints (from an ex-mosso d'Escuadra and from the constitutionalist party Izquierda en Positivo) easily overthrew him. Immediately followed a victimizing campaign for the denunciations of which they blamed (of course) the government of Spain, which they accused of not prioritizing the health of the Catalans. But immediately afterwards, the Generalitat decides to exempt from confinement whoever attends the electoral rallies (because apparently, spending ten minutes in exercising the right to vote is an unacceptable risk, but concentrating a couple of hours to chant and applaud a politician IS tolerable). With this decision, the Government not only shoots itself in the foot in its victimizing strategy, but also throws away the alleged moral superiority of it. The cancellation of this measure (as hasty as its proposal) comes in line with the expected protests (because they were to be expected) not only from rival political leaders, but also from art and culture figures who are fed up with sending their shows to ruin as politicians pretend to crowd baths knowing that the "holiday relaxation" prompted the current third wave. As a Catalan theater actor broadcastet in a successful video "they have officially pissed on us". This setback has not been helped by the decision (much celebrated no matter how opportunistic can be) of the Ciudadanos party not to want to hold rallies in order not to aggravate the pandemic. Surely someone in the nationalist government must have been decomposed with this "master move", since politicians, apparently, are only reasoning at that level of strategy, leaving the pandemic as a second priority. Or third. From a purely statistical and scientific point of view, it may be interesting to know whether or not holding rallies can have some kind of impact on the electorate. I wish all the parties would stop doing it, since at the end of the day it's a huge expense aimed at convincing those already convinced, and in an era in which telework and telepresence prevail, claiming the physical presence of politicians and voters seem totally expendable. And without leaving my scientific curiosity, I also wonder how it will affect the nationalist Government not being able to count on its caravans of assistants from inland Catalonia to the "Tabarnese Catalonia" rallies. Because the truth is that nationalism is used to being in control. The control of dates, of the media, of its public image and, what is more important for a movement with such populist roots, that of staging in the streets. One of its greatest assets is street mobilization (beautifully oversized by TV3's cameramen), a well-oiled machine that never fails them, with its hundreds of buses paid for by "the entitities." But in this case they should be limited to meetings with people only from the municipality in which they take place, and with a safe distance! That doesn't look like it's going to show off much. Leer másCritical socialists promote a petition in defense of Spanish language in Spain
The amendment carried out in the new education law ("Celaa Law"), in which the requirement that the Spanish language now has a vehicular character in Spanish schools has been eliminated, has been trending. In practice, this amendment would allow communities such as Catalonia or the Basque Country to legally eradicate the Spanish language in all subjects other than "Spanish Language", as many Catalan schools already do, although currently they do so in violation of the law. And not only has the opposition risen up against the norm, as we anticipated in a previous article, but several critical voices of the socialist party itself have risen up criticizing this new concession to nationalism, a controversy that has only increased after Bildu's explicit support statement to the socialist budgets and the pact in Navarra between the socialist party and the nationalist party. The promoter of the petition, the socialist Antonio Miguel Carmona, has not been left alone in the petition addressed to the congress, but many socialists, including historical ones like Alfonso Guerra himself, have publicly seconded the petition that they have registered in the following link from Change.org. Petition in defense of the vehicular character of the Spanish language This petition aims to be transversal and not only appeal to socialism but to the whole of citizenship, emphasizing that "we must not subtract, but add", knowing that the suppression not only of bilingualism but of all the common features that unite the different Spanish cultures is essential for secessionist plans. At the time of publication of this article, the petition to Congress continues to grow and is approaching the goal of exceeding 150,000 signatures. Leer másSánchez clears the way to the exclusion of Spanish in spanish schools
The president of the government Pedro Sánchez has secured the support of the nationalist forces for the new education law, the LOMLOE, by eliminating the requirement that Spanish must be one of the vehicular languages in schools throughout Spain. The agreement reached with Unidas Podemos and the Catalan and Basque nationalists will allow that the Spanish language is not a vehicular language in schools, that is, it opens the door to that if the regional governments decide, when the students study the various subjects alone they must do it in their second language (remember that Spanish is the most widely spoken language in all the Spanish autonomous communities). This agreement, which would be incorporated into the new educational law, could have particularly serious effects in Catalonia, Galicia and the Basque Country. In Catalonia the linguistic repression (or immersió) establishes Catalan as the only language in schools, in which Spanish is treated as a foreign language, is already applied de facto, while the school system of the Basque Country puts more and more obstacles to schools in Spanish and will take advantage of this law to impose Basque as the only vehicular language. The new law will allow nationalist governments to eliminate Spanish without breaking the law. Sánchez defends this new transfer to nationalism defending hinself in the fact that "it can be done without violating the Constitution" and points out that the autonomies "must guarantee a basic knowledge of Spanish for their students", which according to interpretation would be equivalent to what is required for English or any other foreign language. The bill will have to overcome parliamentary procedures on Thursday and face stiff opposition, but with the support it has, it's expected to go ahead. Leer másCatalan university students: The most affected of the 2019-2020 academic year
That this year the students and their teachers have faced unprecedented challenges is something that we have all been able to verify. Distance classes with teachers not accustomed to it, with improvised infrastructures, with syllabi hastily adapted to new platforms. Higher grade students throughout Spain have faced innumerable obstacles. However, it's in Catalonia that the challenges to be overcome have meant that, for many, the payment of university fees hasn't been worth it. We list the three main obstacles they have faced. A quarter almost lost to the pandemic This obstacle was shared by all the Spanish. Confined in winter and "released" in summer, the pandemic eliminated classroom classes at a stroke. Many students took it with good philosophy and took advantage of the confinement to study like never before, but others strongly accused the lack of face-to-face classes that helped them maintain discipline. Uncertainty and anxiety were also not good study companions and the digital divide was strong especially with the most humble. For some it was an opportunity, but for many others it meant missing the final quarter, truncating the final stretch of the course. Another quarter lost by the "hot autumn" of nationalism The pandemic has so completely filled our lives that many forget that Catalonia burned during the first quarter of the course that is now ending. The streets of Barcelona and other municipalities were set in fire and the iconic "panots" (the tiles of the streets of Barcelona) were smashed to be used as ammunition against police, journalists and dissatisfied citizens. The universities were taken over by hooded men who occupied them, denying students their right to study. Many nationalist teachers granted waivers and even free approvals to those students who joined the revolt while identifying those who wanted to continue their studies. Almost every day the students had to face the hooded men who erected barricades at the entrances of the faculties so that they could not study, a right that many students (and some teachers who didn'tt tolerate such an abuse of rights) had to defend with their own hands. No possibility of leaving Catalonia The Generalitat of Catalonia, arbitrarily, has decided this year to delay the publication of exam results until the pre-registration deadlines for universities in the rest of Spain end, something that happened this past Sunday, July 26. We can't know if the purpose has been to stop the exodus of students to other communities (the "brain drain"), but in any case the publication wasn't carried out until this Monday 27, ten days later than in the rest of Spain. So, Catalan university students are prevented from applying to any university outside of Catalonia (and many had that intention), no matter how well they have achieved. These three reasons are enough to ensure that no university student in Spain has had a course as boycotted as the Catalans, without counting on the loss of prestige to which nationalism has led to its educational institutions, once distinguished and now politicized, as demonstrated by the pressures against Spanish language or the lack of freedom of expression on the campus of the Universitat de Barcelona, a separatist bastion in which the discrepancy is even physically attacked and those who defend it are the object of social exclusion while those responsible are silent and grant broad sleeves to self-styled vandals so called "anti-fascists" to silence any ideological opposition. Sad panorama for some young people in the most crucial stage of their lives, who have to face challenges that they shouldn't have to overcome in this moment of personal growth. Leer másTorra gives Catalans 10 days to go on vacation before possible confinement
The headline that Quim Torra wanted to leave in his last appearance wasn't exactly the one heading this article, but it's surely what most Catalans who have planned to go on vacation this August have understood. Ten days. Being at July 27 is practically a guarantee that there will be no perimeter confinement until August 6, at which time the Catalan population could be confined if the rate of contagion does not decrease. This long notice doesn't make much sense in the current context in which a slight variation in the speed of infections has caused London to paralyze tourism to Spain with only a few hours to spare, unless what Torra intends is, precisely, to say to the Catalans (and more specifically to those in the metropolitan area of Barcelona with family in the rest of Spain) that they will have their August vacation. As we mentioned in a previous article, Quim Torra doesn't want to confine the metropolitan area of Barcelona, because messing up the vacations of three and a half million people in the middle of the electoral campaign (and nationalism only lives in campaign) would be very damaging for the interests of his boss, Puigdemont, so this measure could guarantee not only the departure, but also the return, since a fifteen-day confinement that began on August 6 would end in time to allow the return of the Catalans to their habitual residence to resume their activity. The irony of the measure is in the phrase "if the rate of contagion doesn't decrease", since after the more than foreseeable mass exodus in the first days of August it's highly likely that contagions in Catalonia will decrease considerably, since they will be distributed for the rest of Spain, a subject that Torra has touched tangentially when asking people to "be careful and minimize their contacts" when visiting their family. Two solutions in one, and both cheap. Make Catalans in the metropolitan area less angry and contagions less concentrated in Catalonia. Electorally? It may ease the blow a little. Epidemiologically? A disaster, that's for sure. Leer másA mayor of Segrià (Catalonia) asks the army for help in the face of the Generalitat's reluctance
The Alcarràs town hall, in the Segrià region of Catalonia (Spain), has asked the Spanish Military Emergency Unit for help in disinfecting the town's nursing home, where more than 80 positives have been detected for Covid-19. According to the mayor, the request was made two weeks ago but it had to go through the Generalitat (regional government) before the army could respond. Already on April 7 they received the help of the UME and that experience was very positive during that first outbreak, according to statements by the Mayor of Alcarràs, who states that the Generalitat has proposed to send their own teams this time, which was scheduled for next Monday, although after all this time the outbreaks haven't stopped growing and the consistory has had no further news. The reluctance of the regional nationalist government to allow the Spanish Army to carry out relief work in this health crisis is well known, something that both nationalist leaders Quim Torra and Gabriel Rufián showed with their criticism during the previous confinement and that led the Health Counselor Alba Vergés to paralyze field hospitals that the army had raised at the request of the mayors in Sant Andreu de La Barca and Sabadell. (In the first of these municipalities, the councilor has been declared "persona non grata" by the town hall). In fact, and despite this institutional resistance, the army was able to go to disinfect several Catalan nursing homes and even set up the field hospital of the Fira de Barcelona under the state of alarm, but as now it's over, the Generalitat can channel these requests for help and can therefore freeze them at will or propose different alternatives. Leer másTheSelf-Responsible Certificate of the Generalitat could be illegal
The original purpose of this article was to disseminate the initiative of the Generalitat regarding the Self-Responsible Certificate, but just minutes after the launch we received information that the document proposed by the Generalitat could be illegal given that it invades state powers. In the original content of this article, we congratulated the Generalitat de Catalunya (first time we had a reason to do so) for their idea of creating a document that would enable citizens to detail the reason and itinerary for their displacement to facilitate police control. But the information received indicates that this idea (which is a good one, we continue to defend) has been done without the knowledge or consent of the Ministry of the Interior of the Government of Spain, whose powers (once again) it invades. This doesn't mean that whoever downloaded the document offered by the Generalitat can't use it. In our opinion, any initiative that helps citizens to facilitate the work of the state's security forces is positive. However, the official character that the Generalitat has tried to give it's not legitimate. In fact, we encourage anyone who wants to make a longer trip than usual to plan and write it down so that they can justify it to the agents. The Generalitat simply doesn't have the power to issue this initiative, as it doesn't have the power to prohibit the death penalty (which luckily is already prohibited). -- Upgrade -- And we expand the news again. At this time we are notified that in Madrid the police are considering implementing the same measure. That's the problem we have right now in this country. We are capable of having a good initiative and that ends up being used as a weapon by political representatives who prefer borders warfare to coordination to solve a common problem. Greetings, take great care and stay home as much as you can. The Onda Layetana team Leer másA stream of VOX denounces "authoritarianism" in the party
In an exclusive interview with Onda Layetana, Sayde Chaling-Chong, a well-known VOX activist in Catalonia, denounces the authoritarian practices of his party and announces the consolidation of a critical current that aims to respond to the "authoritarianism" that he says the directive is exercising. There are several factors, such as the interference of forces outside of those who raised the formation, the manifest disrespect for the own statutes by the leaders and their shielding of any interference or alternative in a party that was born with assembly grounds. In addition there are other possible interests that the militant does not fully reveal until he can properly demonstrate them. During the interview, Sayde states that the claims of the new formation are simple: "Internal democracy and the right to be able to express oneself freely". Something that should be taken for granted, but whose apparent non-existence is what has led to the formation of this dissenting current. Despite the fact that the discontent was manifest due to a number of cases, it seems that it was the sudden rejection of the candidacy of the Canary Island doctor Carmelo Gonzalez that has made the most critical sector react. The candidate was secretary of communication in Las Palmas and he wasn't able to measure his candidacy because as soon as it was known by the directive the candidate was dismissed, after three minutes and by whatsapp. Abascal apparently didn't tolerate alternatives. Although the official version is that the application has not been able to obtain sufficient guarantees, the truth is that the training board has not responded to requests for information on the matter, a fact for which the dissenting sector is considering taking legal action. Asked about the name "VOXHabla" with which this critical current is made known, Sayde states that it's nothing more than a reference to the leitmotif of the early training, that it was none other than "VOX Speak and Act". The interview lasts for more than ten minutes and in it the VOX militant touches on other subjects that may have influenced the authoritarian drift of the formation, such as the interference of members of other political formations that have taken control of various local branches passing above the militancy, or even the dark threat of certain religious formations. You can access the full interview under these lines (in spanish). Leer másCatalan nationalism campaign - They aren't the racists, The Spaniards are
This is the nationalist message. They aren't racist, the Spaniards are. And to defend against them they must raise borders. After the latest controversies caused by the declarations of nationalist positions such as the Minister of Culture Mariàngela Vilallonga and the mayor of Vic Anna Erra (both of JxCAT), which referred respectively to the "Catalan race" and the differential "physical features" of the "native Catalans", have returned to resurface all those racist statements spilled by current and former nationalist leaders. This joint image that obviously includes Quim Torra (the Spaniards are "Beasts with human form who drink hate") and Oriol Junqueras (the Spaniards have "more genetic proximity to the Portuguese" and the Catalans have it "with the French") , Carles Puigdemont ("we have to expel the invader"), Jordi Pujol ("the Andalusian man is a man destroyed and poorly done"), Heribert Barrera ("black people have a lower IQ than white") and many other figures relevant to the nationalist environment, both in ERC and in the environment of what was once called Convergencia. And that ideas gives an image that isn't appropiate in a movement that tries to sell itself to Europe as open and tolerant. This new campaign seems to want to combat the perception of the exclusionary character of nationalism, linking objectives as disparate as the lifting of borders or the "Països Catalans" (the "Grossdeustchland" of Catalan nationalism) with something as opposed as the fight against racism and exclusion ( The phrase "volem acollir" or "we want to welcome") reads prominently on the poster. It's curious that can be necessary to raise borders to be able to welcome, just as it's curious that racism is linked to a whole group that cannot be cured of such scourge and to which those borders must be closed. Because racism can only be fought with education, changing people's mentality, and not with new borders. The ERC approach, therefore, is not only inconsistent, but it contradicts itself, as it comes to say something like "close our borders to the racist race". The strategy of accusing the enemy of one's sins is a constant in Catalan nationalism. Already in the days of Artur Mas his party (which was then called Convergencia Democràtica de Catalunya) was campaigning with posters whose legend said "for a country in which no Catalan feels a foreigner in his land", in what was another reversal of full-fledged roles, since it's precisely the nationalist "differential fact" that has always separated the "native" Catalans from the "charnegos" (literally "dogs without a breed"). This strategy of attributing the own sins to the enemy led the corrupt nationalism to invent the "Spain steals from us" to which they had to give up when international evidence and ridicule forced them to do so. And the same could be said of his efforts to classify any discrepant of his nationalist thesis as "fascist" while using the instruments of fascism to confront criticism. But the ERC strategy may not only be a general image laundering of nationalism, but also another way of distancing themselves from its main enemy: The PDECAT (or JxCAT, or whatever they want to call themselves today), because although racism is very present in both parties is in the Quim Torra's in which it has become especially visible in recent years, with a leader who has said and written authentic barbarities, who worshipes fascists as the Badía brothers and surrounded by a clique like Budó and Vilallonga who complete a picture that any international observer would describe as far right, while the formation of Junqueras defines itself as leftwing (although the acts don't accompany such a definition) and as an alibi against the accusations of xenophobia has at head of the negotiating table a "charnego convert" as Gabrial Rufián, someone whom previous ERC leaders like Joan Puigcercós would not have speak with simply because he speaks in Spanish. In this regard it's worth noting in the photo that accompanies the article the small note, much more humble, which claims "No to immersion", in protest against the prohibition of Spanish in schools. Be it either of the two reasons, the bleaching of neo-fascism or political tacticism, Esquerra Republicana, the force that currently leads Catalan nationalism, reverts the roles to accuse the rest of Spaniards of "racists", through a sign in which Catalonia The Balearic Islands, part of Aragon, the Valencian Community, part of Murcia, all of Andorra, part of southern France and the Italian town of L'Alguer are annexed. A seemingly integrative message but really exclusive and expansionist, which discredits itself, since it implies that racism is inalienable to the Spaniards, who are "genetically" unable to change, so that the message could be perfectly interpreted as follows: "Let's build our borders, annex the neighboring territories, create the "Catalan Countries" ... and get rid of the racist race". Leer másThe leader of the nationalist mossos encourages "Take justice by his hand"
Albert Donaire, leader of the nationalist Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan autonomous police), has once again burnt social networks with a message calling on the nationalist Catalans to take justice by their hand. Donaire is a nationalist Mosso d'Esquadra who has never been afraid to combine his status as an agent of the law with his independence militancy. And beyond that fact he has starred in various controversies by insulting sevberal political leaders of non-nationalist ideology, whom he has even described as "Nazis". However, his most frequent attacks have been against those Mossos d'Esquadra who criticize the politicization of the autonomous police force, with special emphasis in his confrontation with Inma Alcolea, a mosso who has been constantly subject to his disqualifications. Until not long ago the acts of Albert Donaire had impunity, because the Internal Affairs Division of the Mossos, of strong nationalist orientation, took care that the files that were opened ended up expiring, keeping up appearances but without ever arriving to be sanctioned. However, the frequency and type of their actions has ended up opening several judicial cases that have resulted in convictions, something that no one has been able to avoid, so lately his attacks are being directed against justice, to the point of encouraging action outlaws with phrases like this: "In the end, should we take justice by our hand if justice is decidedly prostituted in the service of colonist fascist nationalism? I am already up to the balls that they can do and undo without consequences while we can hardly even breathe. Enough!" Despite the seriousness of the message Donaire currently maintains it on his Twitter account, despite the predictable legal consequences that any type of statement should have for any law enforcement agent, because Donaire's writings show not only his desire of acting outside the law, but also his consideration that non-independence Catalans are "settlers" and "fascists", and denies the impartiality of justice, whose action can no longer be avoided. It should be remembered that among the numerous judicial cases opened against him are for example the harassment of the daughters of Mosso Alcolea, whose photos he has disclosed along with other data of the girls while disqualifying the non-nationalist agent as a bad mother. Leer másThe leader of the nationalists of Scotland considers the Catalan "procès" illegal and illegitimate
One of the most anticipated statements after the proclamation of Brexit was that of Prime Minister Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, leader of the Scottish Nationalist Party. Since Scotland voted mostly to remain in the European Union and Brexit has taken them out of it against that will, Sturgeon has asked to hold a new referendum and has expressed Scotland's "irrevocable will" to become independent. In his speech, Sturgeon has referred to the Catalan process, which she wanted to give as an example of what not to do. "The Catalan independence movement teaches us that a process without legality or legitimacy doesn't achieve independence". It's an opinion that we have heard before among the ranks of Scottish nationalism. Despite the enormous differences between the two cases (Scotland was previously an independent country and British legality did contemplate an eventual independence referendum) at the beginning of the the Catalan "procès" European nationalisms followed with interest the steps of Mas and Puigdemont until Nationalist leaders embraced unilateralism, at which time the Scottish nationalists themselves began to question the methods of Catalan nationalism. That the Catalan process has not respected the legality is not a subject of debate, because Catalan Nationalist leaders have made disobedience their flagship and they have as one of their mottos "We must disobey unfair laws", assuming as inspiration the roles of Rosa Parks or Martin Luther King. However, the accusation of "illegitimate" not only refers to the part that the rule of law can judge, that is, to the legality, but to that part that could only be judged if the process had been legal, and this is the fact that the referendum was not organized so that the will of the citizens of Catalonia could be reliably known. A vote without a legal framework (it didn't conform to the requirements of the Venice committee or the guidelines of the Statutory Guarantees Committee that nationalism had created for this purpose) in which the majority of Catalans decided not to vote (even taking as certain nationalism figures) in which only one part organized, executed, voted and counted and in which more than 80 municipalities with more yeses than inhabitants were detected, ballot boxes that arrived full at the polling stations, people who voted several times. .. The fact is that the images of police violence profusely disseminated by the Catalan nationalist media (which grew with abundant fake news) still remain in the memory of Europeans, but they have not managed to hide that the clash was caused by unilateral action of some nationalist leaders who used people as pawns of a growing escalation of which today only remains images of the streets of Barcelona on fire. European nationalist movements are looking for that "momentum" that allows them to ally in a common front that gives rise to the new states they are looking for, but Catalan nationalism does not mark the way, but in cases like Scotland's, it's being shown as an example of wrongdoing. Leer másBildu and ERC bet on Sanchez to meet their goals
The investiture of Pedro Sanchez could fail only with a vote changing direction, and that has led Bildu to position itself in favor of the still acting president. The support of the Otegui party was concretized in a statement made yesterday in which they affirmed that given the possibility that any socialist deputy (or from another party) could change their mind, the independentist formation could vote YES on Sánchez. An unprecedented support from a formation that draws on former members of ETA and does not condemn terrorism (Otegui only apologized in case they had caused more pain "than they had the right to cause"). Bildu's goal is the same as that of the extinct terrorist formation: to achieve secession from the Basque Country and Navarra. And at the last minute Esquerra Republicana has dropped that she could do the same: They will explicitly support Pedro Sánchez in exchange for a consultation only in Catalonia. Yesterday's plenary session was tense, with constitutional formations calling for "dignity" to socialist parliamentarians and with the spokeswoman for Bildu calling King Felipe VI "authoritarian", in a series of disqualifications to the monarch before which neither Sánchez not even the rest of the socialists responded, framing them in the "freedom of expression". Meanwhile in the street there were demonstrations against Sanchez's pacts with Esquerra under slogans such as "with Esquerra No". The Catalan nationalist formation, on the other hand, maintains its support despite the criticisms of Puigdemont, already MEP, who is in a very uncomfortable position, since he runs out of excuses to criticize for "lazy" an agreement that even Bildu supports. The ERC nationalists justify their support for Pedro Sanchez on the grounds that the pact with the Socialists will make possible a consultation in which only Catalans participate, and insist that their goal remains "self-determination". The outcome will be known in a few hours, but what has become clear is that the Basque and Catalan nationalist movements trust Pedro Sánchez as the only option that can make possible the secession of their respective territories. Sanchez's support for nationalist reasoning is unprecedented in a Spanish president, so they'll not miss this opportunity to meet the objectives they once defended through non-democratic means. Leer másCatalan Nationalism has become violent, excluding and anti-European according to the Washington Post.
Washington's oldest newspaper has recently published the conclusions of a study it has been carrying out since 2014. In this study, conducted with the support of the Artis International consortium, researchers have conducted interviews with Catalans and political leaders of both Factions of the independence conflict in Catalonia, and the comparison between the responses obtained in 2014 with those obtained in 2019 has helped them trace the evolution of the secessionist movement over these five years. We summarize some of the conclusions drawn from the study: * Increased support for violence against the government. Independence has gone from a pacifist attitude to supporting political violence. At the beginning of the study, the majority of independentists rejected violence, while now a majority accepts "a certain degree" of violence against the police. * Polarization of identities. Initially the Catalan and Spanish identities overlapped in large numbers of Catalans who had no problem in assuming both. Now the moderates are moving to extremes and many have considered themselves "only Catalan" or "only Spanish". * Antieuropeism. Initially the nationalists declared themselves pro-European and trusted that the European institutions endorse their claims or at least "mediate" between them and the government of Spain. Currently, the more independent an individual is, the less European he feels, probably because the European Union, within the legal framework, has treated the matter as an internal problem of Spain, rather than supporting them. * Exclusion. In 2014, independentists used immigrants as an example to show that their movement was inclusive. However, now the nationalists have restricted their definition of who is Catalan, with the idea that Catalan is "in their blood". The newspaper mentions that the more independentist an individual is, the more exclusionary he becomes, and it affirms that the independentists have become more "tribal", with a narrower sense of identity. In addition to detailing the points presented, the article mentions the sentences of "procés" as an important turning point in these changes in the nationalist character. It points to the lack of a solution to the "conflict" by the government of Spain and the European Union, and states that Catalan nationalism "has damaged democracy in Spain". According to the journalists who sign the article, other consequences of the radicalization of nationalism are: the fragmentation of the independence parties, the rise of the far right and the polarization that makes the parties have difficulty forming coalitions despite the attempts of the more centrists parties. This is the link to the original article. Leer másThe Lisbon City Council denies the nationalist fake news that says it condemns the "Spanish repression"
Catalan nationalist media such as elnacional.cat or vilaweb made a news story yesterday that the city council of Lisbon would have issued a statement condemning "The repression of the Spanish State" in Catalonia. This news was widely disseminated by these media and by nationalist users of social networks. Having knowledge of this broadcast, the city of Lisbon quickly denied the fact, issuing a statement that you can access through the website of the municipal chamber. This is the original statement (in Portuguese). According to the consistory of the Portuguese capital, "In light of the news published about a condemnation by the Lisbon Municipal Assembly of the alleged repression of the Spanish authorities in Catalonia, and a request for the release of what they call "political prisoners", the municipality of Lisbon clarifies that only the decisions taken at the councilors meeting are bound by the Lisbon City Council, and that no deliberation has been taken, or will be approved, with this content". Despite the official denial, at the time of publication of this article the nationalist publications cited above have not yet published any rectification on the "fake news" they have disseminated. Apart from denying the news, the Lisbon city council wanted to reaffirm its support for Spanish democracy through this final paragraph in its statement: "The position of the Lisbon City Council is unequivocal in this regard: full respect for the sovereignty of the Spanish State, its constitution, its laws and the operation of its institutions". Leer másAmnesty International: The condemnation of the Jordis is excessive, but the trial was fair
As Amnesty International has made public today, the sentence applied to the "Jordis" by the Spanish judges has been excessive, and consequently calls for their release. The human rights organization considers that "the use of the crime of sedition has been used too broadly" to prosecute the leaders of secessionist civil organizations, and states that "more specific crimes need to be specified or else the right to harm the peaceful demonstration. " However, it doesn't consider that those convicted fall into the category of political prisoners, that is, it doesn't claim that they have been judged for their ideas, but for their actions. Regarding the trial itself, Amnesty International concludes that it has been a fair trial and has not made claims for any of the political leaders tried and convicted. This conclusion is based on fifty days of the trial in which he has attended as an observer. In summary: The "Jordis" must be set free, while Junqueras, Forcadell and the rest of those accused and convicted must comply with their sentences. One detail to keep in mind: despite the insistence of nationalism for considering its leaders "political prisoners", none of the around two hundred human rights NGOs in the world grant them such status, and both Amnesty International itself and Human Rights Watch They have expressly denied it. Leer másThe 10 attacks on democracy of nationalism in October
This October, with the excuse of the sentences to the trial of "procés", nationalism has taken a step without return, leaving democracy definitively. These are the actions that, only in the month of October, directly attack democracy and that have been directly encouraged by nationalist leaders or, at best, have been born into nationalism and have not been condemned by their leaders . 1 - Impulse, justification and exaltation of violence: The violent acts of the "black week" of Barcelona were encouraged by the secret organization "Tsunami Democrátic" with the blessing of the nationalist government. Nothing less than the president of the "Catalan National Association", Elisenda Paluzie, has affirmed on nationalist television that "it is good that violence occurs because the conflict acquires visibility", and nationalism propagandists have carried out a graphic campaign of Exaltation of the images of street confrontations against the police, which are given an epic treatment, typical of "war feats" and slogans such as "Burning containers is not violence" or "They are not Violent, but Brave." The late and weak condemnations of Torra's violence (in which he blames the police) do not convince anyone. 2 - Criminalization of the forces of the law: When two years ago the Mossos d'Esquadra maintained a low profile and were inhibited from their obligation to suppress the illegal referendum of 2017, nationalism baptized them as "the police police", extolled them and decorated. However, in 2019, when the Mossos had to face (together with the National Police and the Civil Guard) an organized violence never seen in nationalism that was about to raze the streets of Barcelona, they had to be used thoroughly, although always proportionally, to try to protect the city. The nationalist government excused the violent and criminalized the work of the agents, now called "repressive forces." Nationalist television called them "fucking dogs of prey" and "illiterate". To satisfy the CUP, on whose two seats the precarious nationalist government depends, Quim Torra has announced "the largest internal research campaign in the history of the Mossos D'Esquadra" to "purify" those agents who have been able to "exceed "in their functions. 3 - Denial of national and international justice: Full nationalism rejects the judgment of the "procés" trial. And instead of relying on the recourse to Strasbourg (presumably he will not be right), they entrust everything to the mobilization of the masses in acts of street rebellion, while questioning the validity of European institutions. 4 - Attack on freedom of demonstration: Nationalism's efforts to prevent the massive constitutionalist demonstration of October 27 in Barcelona have been immense, but useless. Roads and railroads have been cut, Sants station has been occupied and even so, the assistance far exceeded (no more than seeing the many photos and videos) the independence demonstration of the previous day, whatever the guard says urban The most recalcitrant deniers claim that "all were Spaniards from outside arriving by coach", although they also affirm that "the boycott was a success and no coach could arrive." Logically the two things cannot be. 5 - Attempted against the rights of students: And even in TV3 gatherings, the Cupaires leaders insisted that the barricades of the hooded violent men at the gates of Catalan universities to prevent students from attending class were part of the "legitimate right to strike". Needless to say (it is not a pun) that if you want to strike you will not work or do not attend class, but if you prevent others from doing so it is no longer a strike, but repression. No nationalist leader condemns these facts. 6 - Attack on the freedom of citizens: The blockade of the Prat Airport (which resulted in the death of a French citizen of a cardiac arrest due to stress and over-effort when having to walk on the road dragging luggage), the cuts in borders, roads and railways caused an effective siege of the city of Barcelona, in violation of the right of people to develop their normal activity, 7 - Exaltation of terrorism: Not a week goes by in which nationalist protesters do not understand the well-known "Visca Terra Lliure!". Recall that Terra Lliure was a terrorist group of Catalan nationalism that had to dissolve because of its ineptitude (it killed two secondary targets when they could not access the main ones and yet four of their own members died by accident when handling explosives). Puigdemont was photographed shortly before the riots with one of the founders of Terra Lliure, while sharing with Torra his lawyer (convicted of collaborating with ETA) and both have a convicted person for murder within the Epoca terrorist group coordinating the "country strike" which culminated on Friday burning the streets of the city. Its main international ambassador is Arnaldo Otegui, former member of ETA. No nationalist leader questions or condemns these facts. 8 - Attack against the political discrepancy: The CDR self-styled separatist commandos have surrounded and harassed the headquarters of the dissenting political parties (PP, Citizens, PSC), with graffiti, vandalism and throwing objects. No nationalist leader condemns these facts. 9 - Attack against the democratic framework: Nationalist leaders have "activated" the so-called "Assembly of Càrrecs Electes" (Assembly of Elected Offices), composed entirely of nationalists, without the presence of the "annoying" opposition, without political discrepancy or any kind of inspection. A totalitarian government, in short. 10 - Attack against democratic processes: The "Democratic Tsunami" organization that promotes vandalism and terrorist acts calls for boycotting the day of reflection. Other nationalist initiatives disseminated through social networks also plan to sabotage the electoral elections themselves, which implies a denial of a message they claimed to defend two years ago. And this has only been in October. Leer másHispanish Culture Day is consolidated in Barcelona in 2019
Hispanish Culture Day has returned to Barcelona, not as an answer to separatism, from which it is impossible to unlink a part of its message, but as a celebration of the unique and shared identity, and that has been noticed a lot in the 2019 edition. Already in 2018 the event was one of the main ones at national level, with very positive contributions such as the representation of culture and folklore of all Spanish-speaking countries. The experience has intensified if possible in this edition, also with the coverage of national and international media, with special emphasis on Latin Americans. Regarding the organization, there's a tendency towards plural participation, but at the same time the unification of a large part of the constitutional entities under the Cataluña Suma brand. Fortunately, the "friendly fire" that sometimes dazzles constitutionalism (and nationalism as well) seems to give space to an "all together" that is inevitable in order to overcome the situation in Catalonia. The participation of personalities has been very high, starting with the usual political representatives such as Ines Arrimadas, Josep Bou, Carlos Carrizosa, Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo, Bertrand N'Dongo, Dolors Montserrat and many more, and we had the opportunity to speak with many of them. I notice that I haven't mentioned any left-wing politicians, and I can't assure you there wasn't. But I'm sure that Plaza Cataluña was full of left-wing people, as much as right-wing. Simply their most recognized leaders were not there. And if they were, I didn't see them. The live interventions have been combined with the video participation of illustrious constitutionalists such as Jose Manuél Soto or the "Very Honorable President of Tabarnia", Albert Boadella, in a message full of his particular humor. In the case of the personalities present, a somewhat more bearable pace has been noticed than last year, with better time planning. Another breath of fresh air has been the lively participation of "Los de Artós", the young constitutionalists who somehow lit the flame of the response two years ago and who represent not only the most optimistic future, but resistance to indoctrination it's possible. We can't fail to highlight the presence of one of the masters of the ceremony, Pedro García Aguado, from Madrid, who lived in Esplugues del Llobregat while training as an elite athlete and almost everyone know him for his redeeming role in the successful TV reality "Hermano Mayor". We had the opportunity to speak with him, as well as with other icons of constitutionalism such as our friend Imma Alcolea, the "mossa de esquadra" harassed by the internal affairs division of the Catalan autonomous police for being constitutionalist and speaking it out loud. The general feeling has been that Hispanish Culture Day is already an inexcusable figure of Barcelona. A joyful and festive event that no one can miss and that citizens claim as their own for years to come. We have no doubt that nationalist television will build its own history. Surely the Colau Urban Guard will give some very poor participation figures to place the assistance below the puncture that the hyper-subsidized September 11 has meant this year. Almost certainly they will focus on the peripheral and marginal participation of ultra-rightist groups such as La Falange and will look for eagled imperial flags among the attendees (and if they don't find them, the appropriate archive images may sneak). In any case, attendees have lived in Barcelona as a joyful day for the celebration of unity in diversity, and if one day nationalism loses the intensity it currently still has, it will surely continue to be a celebration, without the need for to claim abuse, but to praise a common history and a promising future. Leer másTwo years since the Catalan coup attempt
Catalan nationalism devotes enormous efforts to sanctify the date of October 1, 2017 as the day of the challenge to the Spanish state, origin of the macrocause of the secessionist process and visual example of "repression on a peaceful movement". However, the coup attempt was executed in three stages: First through the promulgation of totalitarian laws on September 6 and 7, 2017, then through the aforementioned and exalted staging of October 1 of the same year, and finally through the unilateral declaration of independence of October 10, 2017. Curiously, this last date has not been largely in the memory of the Catalan nationalists, being replaced by the visual epic of October 1, while the constitutionalists can't forget the 6 and 7 of September. On October 10, the day of the unilateral declaration of independence, despite the fear and illusion that the Catalans of both sides experienced, it was nothing more than a "touch and flight" whose performance caused more shame than pride among nationalism. But let's go back to the events that concerns us and find out why on the 6th and 7th there was the strongest blow that struck against democracy. First, those days the rights of the opposition were violated. In chaotic and desperate sessions, nationalism first twisted and then skipped its own laws to prevent the legitimate action of the opposition. Many speak of "trampling on the right of minorities," but that's not entirely true. In those days the parliamentary minority represented the majority of voters, that is, 53% of the Catalans, while the parliamentary majority that imposed their will by skipping their own laws only represented 47% of the "Catalan people". Therefore the rights of minorities were not trampled on. The rights of the MAJORITY of the citizens of Catalonia were trampled on. Then, then totalitarian "disconnection laws" were drafted. And "totalitarian" is not a word that should be used lightly. Three key points clearly demonstrate the true nature of these laws. 1st. A new Catalan legislation was demarcated "that would not have any other law over it." A legislation that would not be subject to any other. Neither to the Statute of Catalonia, nor to the Spanish constitution, nor to the UN Resolutions, nor to the very Charter of Human Rights. There was no law, neither human nor divine, that could contradict a comma of what was agreed in the Catalan parliament. It should be noted that this point is almost a tracing of the "enabling law" with which Hitler cemented his power when he went from being a democratically elected representative to a totalitarian leader with absolute powers. 2nd. The separation of powers was suppressed. Not as clearly as in the previous point, but with indisputable effects. The voting percentages were established in the election of the judges among the different bodies so that the sum of which granted a comfortable permanent absolute majority to the president of the Generalitat. In fact, if the coup had prospered, Carles Puigdemont could have appointed and dismissed the Catalan judges at will. 3rd. Crimes from those related to the new regime could be forgiven by law. In order to reach this, a law was contemplated with which the new government could pardon any nationalist claiming "services to the country". Without any other requirements. We could develop these points and many others, such as that the new nationalist regime tried to outlaw parties that questioned the new constitution or wanted to promote the division of Catalonia (a law that exists in the German constitution and that if it existed in the Spanish would mean immediate illegalization of the nationalist parties) but with what is described here it's enough to understand why these days that nationalism now strives to forget, are those that constitute, beyond all doubt, a dangerous blow to the same bases of the democracy. Leer másBritish nationalism blocks parliament in order to silence the opposition
The current British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has extended the deadlines beyond usual to keep the British parliament closed and thus prevent the opposition from presenting objections or alternatives to its rupturist plan to reach a no-deal Brexit. This maneuver of British nationalism is similar to that carried out in the last two years by Catalan nationalism, which opens the parliament only for issues related to the nationalist conflict and keeps it closed the rest of the time, which has caused the Catalan chamber has been more than a year without promulgating a single law. The Scotland PM, Nicola Sturgeon, has spoken of "black day for democracy" and has described as "dictatorship" the acting of the British leader who has opted for an exacerbated nationalism. The suspension of parliament will take effect only a few days after the ministers return to work in September, and will conclude a few days before the deadline for Brexit. In spite of everything, the British prime minister has obtained the approval of the queen. The matter has not only unleashed the protests of Johnson's political rivals, but has raised dissenting voices among his own party and has been answered with mass demonstrations in the streets of London. Leer másNationalism tries to blame Spain for the Jihadist attack in Barcelona
On August 17, 2017, a command of Islamic fundamentalists spread terror in the streets of a Spanish capital. What the terrorists did not know is that by choosing Barcelona as their objective they were introducing an unexpected element that forced Catalan nationalism to work in a hurry to incorporate something as alien as an Islamic attack to their own imminent attack against Spanish democracy. If the terrorists could have known it they would have chosen any other European capital, because nationalism was responsible for making Catalonia stop talking about the Jijadist threat almost in a matter of days and imaginative concepts such as "their business, our dead" were coined, accompanied by the effigy of the king of Spain shaking hands with an Arab sheikh. Yes, the automatic reaction of nationalism was something as absurd as blaming an Islamic fundamentalist attack on the government of Spain. A handful of terrorists had died killing in a horrible act to vindicate their cause and the Catalan government ignored their threat and used their act for a completely different cause. European citizens wounded or killed, used by identitary nationalism while their relatives were immersed in a demonstration in which individuals who wore the nationalist starred flag as a cape accused the king of Spain as they broke and threw to the bin those banners that asked for "peace and coexistence" .. because they were written in Spanish. In the distance, Islamic fundamentalists should be unable to understand that no one blamed them. They didn't understand what the "procés" was about. On this second anniversary of those events, as terrible as ignored and manipulated, and after the failure of the last nationalist campaigns that sought to show that the Spanish security forces could have avoided the attacks of Barcelona and Cambrills, nationalism has decided to bet directly by way of gesticulation. So, hundreds of protesters dressed in masks have carried banners with the motto "State crime" during the acts in memory of the victims of the jihadist attacks of Barcelona and Cambrills, in a new performance in which, as in the previous two years, they have tried to manipulate the homage to the victims to turn it into an act of nationalist campaign. As Göbbels said: A lie repeated 1000 times can become true. Already in 2017, a few days after the attacks, nationalism quickly turned what should have been a plea against terror and fundamentalism into a demonstration against "Islamophobia" (however noble this gesture was out of place in an Islamist attack) and against the King of Spain, since there are Spanish companies that sell weapons to enemy countries of the terrorists (that some of those businessmen are Catalan is irrelevant, it seems) and, according to nationalism, that justifies that Islam radicals attack Barcelona territory, so everything is, in short, "Spain's fault". Now in 2019 the media campaign orchestrated by nationalism and disseminated by its informative pillars (such as Jaume Roures and the newspaper publico.es) has taken advantage of the proximity of the anniversary of the terrorist attacks to try to show through erroneous or manipulated arguments that Spanish police were aware of the radicalization of the Ripoll Iman before the attacks in Barcelona and that they could have avoided such attacks. This campaign didn't last long because it soon proved that all the knowledge that the security forces had of the radicalization of the Ripoll Imam was subsequent to the attacks, and that post-fact reconstructions had been used to make them pass as events prior to the attacks. After knowing the manipulation, and without issuing rectification communications, the media subsidized by nationalism immediately stopped talking about the issue, at least clearly and directly. In the acts (which should be) to honor the victims, the President of the Generalitat Quim Torra, the mayor of Barcelona Ada Colau and other more or less independentist leaders have fled the symbolic and ideological festival of two years ago and have maintained a much more sober profile, according to the seriousness of the moments to remember, (Although Ada Colau's phrase has been unfortunate in which she states that "we aren't here to feed conspiracy theories", with which she has precisely been responsible for feeding the conspiracy theory). On the more positive side it has been noted the almost complete absence of yellow ties and stellar flags, because nationalism is not stupid and they know that an excess of symbology in these acts would have been frowned upon by most Catalans and from the rest of Europe. But since nationalism is unable to resist taking advantage of a media moment to campaign, it has been orchestrated in parallel and without the visible involvement of the leaders of the movement a demonstration not very numerous but very well coordinated in which several nationalists have carried white masks that could recall those of "V for Vendetta" or "Money Heist" and have paraded with banners stating that the jihadist attacks were actually a "Crim d'estat" (State Crime). Let's recall that a "State Crime" is a criminal act carried out by government instances, so nationalism (conveniently disguised) is accusing the spanish government of orchestrating an attack against its own citizens. Taking into account that the detained jihadists had the objective of exploding a bomb in the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia and that when the artifact in the Alcanar house accidentally exploded, they had to improvise the attacks that finally took place, the protesters are accusing the Popular Party government of wanting to blow up the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona and kill hundreds of Catalans and tourists. The Popular Party may have made many mistakes, but it's inconceivable that no government in Spain since Franco's death can tolerate much less encourage the indiscriminate killing of citizens. Therefore, and due to the absolute lack of evidence to support these conspiracy theories, these accusations of clear political intentions have barely found resonance beyond the nationalist sphere itself. Leer másThe campaign that made nationalist Artur Mas president of Catalonia was financed with public money
Artur Mas has been preparing his return to the front line of Catalan politics for a few months in order to start as soon as his disqualification (due to the illegal 9-N consultation) expires. However, it's possible that his aspirations have to face greater setbacks than he expected. Because the investigations of the corruption plots of Convergéncia (the current PDECAT) have brought to light a sub-frame of illegal financing of the campaign that led Artur Mas to the presidency of the Generalitat. According to the information made public by El Periódico, that campaign was financed with public money, and to launder the illegal financing, TV3, the Catalan public television, was used to draw up contracts that invoiced work never done, to through which the debts of Artur Mas's party were allegedly paid with the organizers of his campaign. In the course of the investigation the former manager of TV3, Oriol Carbó, has been charged for the payment of € 750,000 for the acts of the Mas campaign. According to Judge José de La Mata's files (within the macrocause of the 3% case) the payments would have been made through the production company Triacom, belonging to Carbó, and following "Germà Gordó's specific instructions" to mask payments as jobs made for the CCMA (Corporació Catalana de Mitjans Audiovisuals). Although there are several cases of corruption that dot the trajectory of Convergence (and some cases that already affect its new brand, PDECAT), this latter information directly affects the political legitimacy of Artur Mas, who intends to lead again his party to become the savior of the same Catalan right-center-wing that he managed to dismantle. Leer másPablo Iglesias prevents again a leftist government
It happened in 2016 and it has happened again three years later. Partisan interests have been imposed over high politics. The "no" of Iglesias that prevents the investiture of Sanchez returns us to that first one, almost for the same reasons. 124 votes in favor, 155 against and 67 abstentions. It's the balance of votes that has sent the socialist party directly to September. But this time the fault is not only Peter and Paul's. It has been all the parties that have contributed to this collective failure. As the spanish saying goes, "they all killed her and she died by herself". And that "she" has been this time the patience of the people. Because none of the political representatives has made a decision either from the country that they intend to rule (or destroy), but in many cases they haven't made the decision that best suits their own party. It seems that the current political leaders (never that term was so devalued) have acted out of pride, just to stay at ease. And that's not what we are paying them for. Unidas Podemos, (party that could also change its name to "Pudimos") has made a decision that hurts itself, since its continued decline among its voters will only increase in a probable next electoral call. Pablo Iglesias' party is not resigned to staying with little, even knowing that in the foreseeable upcoming elections they would surely kill for having what they are now rejecting. The welfare of the Spaniards? This is not the topic. Partido Socialista has become a huge set of inactive minds, since the first and last word is from Pedro Sánchez who acts as if he had won the elections by absolute majority and the other parties should abstain because it's him or the chaos. And in that invented epic he must win, and if he loses it's because the others are not up to it. However, what Pedro seems to ignore is that a few seek that chaos, and many others think that chaos cannot be much worse than what Pedro offers. The welfare of the Spaniards? Of course, that's not the subject. Partido Popular has become an icy smile at the head of a mastodonic structure that resists by pure inertia. Casado expects to resist by the force of habit and "see the corpse of his enemy pass before his door". The welfare of the Spaniards? That's not what we are trying to fix. Ciudadanos, who was the great white hope, centrist, coherent and incorruptible, has become as enigmatic and capricious as the rest. Rivera and his red lines have disdained the center-left pact desired by many and that would have generated a stable and constitutionalist government. The socialist party agrees with the "enemies of Spain"? The socialist party would agree with anyone, even with Ciudadamos. Wouldn't it be better to have Sanchez tied by a pact like that of three years ago? Isn't it better to have Sanchez controlled? When Rivera closed that exit, obsessed by a right pact and for being the new PP, he also closed that exit to all Spaniards. The welfare of the Spaniards? Don't waste his time! From the Catalan Nationalists (never to be confused with the Catalans), we can no longer expect anything other than selfish calculations. At this time, both ERC and PDECAT seek to establish their own profile and return to autonomy without their faithful noticing it, while they stab each other over the corpse of the CUP. The welfare of the Spaniards? They care as little as the Catalans. Urkullu's PNV is an interested spectator who doesn't care at all, because Basque Country already has an enviable taxation and, thanks to Rajoy, a juicy extra allocation, so it only remains to be aware of when its strength will be necessary and sufficient again to re-extort the ruling ruler for another piece of the cake. The welfare of the Spaniards? It doesn't care, although the welfare of the Basques does seem to matter, or at least that of the Basque nationalists. The rest of the formations, both national and regional (Gallegos, Valencians, Cantabrians, Canaries ...) know that little can be said and they don't draw much attention, knowing that they are in the middle of a fratricidal war in which they are not the protagonists. Their time will come. Gone are the times of high politics, when Spain began to lift its head after a dictatorship, when it was fresh the previous lack of democracy and (authentic) fascism, and politicians knew that to join forces they should subtract aspirations. None of that remains today. Leer másThe attacks on VOX and its leaders that the press silences
This week there have been several attacks perpetrated against the headquarters of the political party VOX and against some of its leaders. The first of these attacks took place this Tuesday at the home of the VOX leader in Sabadell, Patricia Muñoz. The second occurred two days later at the VOX headquarters in Madrid as his spokesman, Javier Ortega-Smith was in the building. The attack on Tuesday was carried out against the home of Patricia Muñoz, leader of VOX in Sabadell and coordinator for the Vallés Occidental. The most colorful part of this attack consisted in the throwing of eggs filled with paint of different colors against his private home, but this fact, which could be confused with a simple prank or an unpleasant event is only the latest in a series of acts of vandalism against the representative of VOX, which has been harassed continuously for two years by forces linked to nationalism. The harassment so far has consisted of phone calls in which she is threatened, including death threats, being followed by car, paintings on the walls of her home or disclosure of the address of the school where her children are studying. Muñoz also has a clothing and accessories business that is also subject to constant threats (threatening to set it on fire, sabotaging it or stealing the genre and throwing it as trash), although as the sale is made online and the leader of VOX has maintained its location secret, the radicals do carry most of their intimidating actions against the private home of the VOX representative. The second case took place next to the party headquarters in Madrid. Some vandals have set fire in containers next to the building and the spokesman of the party, Javier Ortega Smith had to go out to smother the flames in the container next to their headquarters, thus preventing the flames from spreading to the car parked next. In this case the vandals have fled before they can be identified. Analyzing the information received by this digital and contrasting it with the headers of the rest of the media, and especially of the big media, we have been able to confirm that there's some kind of silence, it's still too early to know whether casual or intentional, about any attack carried out against the political party VOX, especially by the Catalan nationalist press. In fact, the few references that we can find to attacks to VOX automatically qualify them as "fake news" and call to ignore them. Although it's evident that there may exist and in fact there do exist fake news throughout the political spectrum, those attacks of which there's documented evidence, videos and other, are also silenced by several media, as if their bosses feared to be labeled as "collaborating with the far right". Very few media have come to cover the numerous attacks on Patricia Muñoz, among those we can count small digitals as the newspaper "Mediterráneo Digital". The case of Madrid headquarters has received some more attention, especially due to the spreading of the video that shows Ortega-Smith smothering the fire with an extinguisher. Although in both cases the aggressors have not been identified, it's clear from their threats and graffiti that they consider themselves "anti-fascist". However, by harassing, vandalizing and terrorizing a political party simply because of their ideas, they are putting into practice that very fascism they are trying to attribute to their rival. *** EXTENSION *** While this news was being published, new information and denunciations of new cases of harassment and intimidation are coming to this media. The militant of Vox in Barberà del Vallès Alfonso P. J. has gone today to the court of instruction of his locality to denounce calls falsely identifying as from the MRW messaging and asking for his address for a delivery. When refusing to give such information, since the call was made from a hidden number, the speaker (a woman) hung up and later called again, this time without subterfuge and threatening him directly, "WATCH WHEN YOU LEAVE THE STREET, FASCIST .... WITH WHOM YOU SPEAK AND WHAT YOU SAY, FASCIST, THAT WE KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE. " According to the complaint, she also said verbatim: "WE ARE GOING TO SHOOT YOU, YOU FASCIST, IN THE HEAD, FASCIST". The threatened activist has not been able to find out how those who threaten him have his personal telephone number. Leer másThe Mossos d'Esquadra are acting openly as political police
Last Thursday and Friday an operation of the Mossos d'Esquadra arrested in the Maresme (Barcelona) seven Catalan citizens for removing political symbology from the public space and deposit it at the door of the major, in an activity of cleaning that keeps growing and spreading through the Catalan geography. These people were transferred from Barcelona to Girona to be imprisoned for three days and three nights for an action that according to the current laws doesn't constitute a crime, or even a slight fault, but has been subject to follow-up and persecution similar to those that could be carried out in the context of an anti-Jihadist operation. It's not the first time that the Catalan autonomous police carries out interventions following political orders, but it's the first time that they have done it so clearly, arresting people for removing pro-independence symbols while those who command them use public employees to place them and to remove constitutionalist symbols, because for some years it's the public workers of the town councils themselves who place both yellow ties and nationalist flags following the orders of their mayors. It should also be remembered that in municipalities such as Barcelona every time there's the opposite case, that is, every time constitutional citizens are the ones who massive glue Spanish flags, the municipal staff themselves have been responsible for cleaning them following precise instructions of not touching nationalist symbols. When this has happened the Barcelona City Council has mobilized in record time not only cleaning employees but also any other available resources, such as, for example, the 'trambaix' urban tram operators, who have been removed from their functions until the 'discrepant' symbology is eliminated, as this mean has known. On this occasion, however, the "lesson" has been exemplary. The Catalans who met to clean public spaces of political symbology didn't take any action that deserved detention, but were retained the maximum time allowed by law (72 hours). They acted in the Maresme (Barcelona), but were moved without a reasonable reason to a municipality in Girona in an area where nationalism has much more presence and, therefore, the expected popular support could be lower, despite which hundreds of people moved to show their support for the detainees, among the shouts and boos of the nationalists who went to boycott their efforts. The constitutionalist people shout slogans such as "NOW there are political prisoners" or "the witch hunt has begun", and were supported by the constitutionalist association "Plataforma por Tabarnia". The conditions of detention were also anomalous. The detainees were deceived by telling them that they could expedite the proceedings and be released beforehand if they accepted certain conditions, such as a lawyer ex officio. They were instructed to authorize the dumping of data from their mobile phones, which would de facto allow the Mossos d'Esquadra to locate other people with similar ideology. In order to maintain their isolation, a mother who had traveled from Barcelona to see her arrested son was told that he didn't want to see her. However, the seven detainees took their right not to testify. For some time now, many members of the Mossos d'Esquadra have openly criticized the politicization of their organization, which becomes more evident the further up the ranks. Many of them even call their service of internal affairs "Genestapo" for their persecution of unrelated agents. This politicization of the security forces has been increasing in recent months, with cases such the one of the local police chief of Capellades, who has gone on a hunger strike due to harassment and pressure received for opposing its municipality carried out illegal surveillance of people who cleaned public spaces of yellow plastics. The Mossos d'Esquadra have acted in several occasions under political orders, always disguising their actions under typifiable crimes, but this is the first occasion in which the charges ("attack to the fundamental rights" for cleaning political symbols placed totalitarianly in public spaces) they do not even try to be credible. Now the Mossos are already acting as political police, without restrictions or dissimulation. Leer másHarassment to the Chief of Police of Capellades for not submitting to nationalism
Miguel Hernández is the Chief of the Local Police of Capellades, Barcelona. It's a law enforcer, and as such seeks to ensure that everyone in the municipality comply with the law equally, regardless of the political party to which one belongs or the political symbol that appears on the lapel. But that legitimate impartiality clashed head-on against the wall of the town hall the first time he had to put a drink report to a citizen who turned out to be a councilor for culture (and CUP). Since then, Hernández has been in the sights of the town hall. That first conflict with the councilor might not have been as relevant had the Chief of Police not encountered issues that allegedly involved the mayor himself, the pro-independence Aleix Auber, also affiliated with the CUP, whom he denounced for installing illegal cameras to persecute those who removed the yellow ribbons that flooded the town and whose placement, apart from usurping the public spaces, violated the municipal ordinances. However, this isn't the only abuse of the former mayor who has been denounced by the police chief. Hernandez has also brought to light several suspicious contracts that have been made to the detriment of the people, as well as the granting of various "favors" to neighbors who have generated a presumed clientelist network with which Aleix Auber could have bought the vote of many citizens. At one point, Auber's actions had an even more personal character for Miguel Hernández, since the mayor came to use the personal data of the police chief himself and to forge his signature to contract the insurance policies of up to nine vehicles of the municipal brigade of Capellades, appearing in all of them the chief of police as usual driver. These contracts remained active for years, and have motivated the chief to denounce his mayor also for identity theft and falsification of documents. During this period three disciplinary proceedings and 14 denunciations to Chief Hernández have been opened, all of them false according to his statements, interposed in an arbitrary way for not turning a blind eye to the nationalist consistory. With the arrival of the municipal elections there was a change in the municipal government. The nationalist mayor of the CUP was replaced by the nationalist mayor of ERC, Salvador Vives. At first this fact didn't mean a big change, as Capellades passed from the CUP-ERC pact to the ERC-CUP pact, so Hernández didn't hold any hope that his situation would change. In the light of the situation, the Chief of Police began a hunger strike four days ago in front of the door of the Capellades Town Hall. Initially, the mayor didn't deign to attend to him. According to the agent of the law, he didn't have time. However after three days of strike the new mayor has come to contact him and asked him time to review his situation and know the details of the open files. The police chief has suspended the hunger strike for the time being, although he believes that the attitude of the new mayor is likely to end only in good words. By now, they have not withdrawn either a demand or a sanction, but at least he has been able to meet with the new mayor and the future governor, who have said they knew almost nothing about their situation. According to statements made by Chief Hernández, the two have expressed surprise at some of the information and the willingness to verify the facts. Chief Hernandez has informed us that he has some optimism about his situation, after all we are in a political period in which Esquerra Republicana tries to distance itself from the radical positions and defiance of the law of both PDECAT and the CUP, but he doesn't plan to lower his guard. According to the normal course of justice, the new consistory will begin to receive promptly the lawsuits filed during these months of harassment, and Hernández plans to take additional measures if another fraudulent accusation is brought against him again. This is the current situation of the Chief of the Local Police of Capellades. Hernandez knows that he doesn't have to endure this situation anymore. He can change his destination, choose another place and start over. He can maintain a lower profile, and be treated as anyone else. But Chief Hernandez is a servant of the law, and he prefers to stay in his position and try to enforce the law. Other Catalan agents of several forces, including Mosso Inma Alcolea, suffer similar situations. Some have contacted each other, because they know they are not alone. They are not isolated cases, and not all people agree that the law and its servants should comply with politics, neither in Capellades nor anywhere else. Leer másThe nationalist bank always wins
The draw for the Autonomous Games and Betting Entity (EAJA) known as "La Grossa" is once again deserted. More than three million euros that will remain the Generalitat of Catalonia, as happened already in 2014. The nuance of this occasion is that, unlike the previous editions, the Generalitat refuses to disclose the number of tickets sold, so the success of the Catalan lottery system, which for some is just another "nationalist tool", is very in question. In 2013, when the draw for "la grossa" was created, the resident of the Generalitat, Artur Mas, said: "With the Catalonia lottery everyone wins because the money we play stays here". What few imagined was that in the first draw, the prize money would stay EXACTLY there: in the Generalitat. And on this occasion, it has happened again. Exactly the same. Leer másThe independence movement in the city of Barcelona only reaches 45%
Not one but two historical doubts have been definitively cleared thanks to the consultation made by the Mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, to the bases of her party. And they are two very important questions. The traditional lack of definition of the commons of Colau has always aroused a doubt. How much weight does the independence movement have among its voters? This is something that the leaders of Barcelona in Comú didn't really know, which has often led many of them to assume what most interested or suited them, motivating those with more nationalist tendency, such as Gerardo Pisarello, to approach their positions so much to nationalism that the predictable growth of Esquerra Republicana and the somewhat less predictable collapse of the commons ended up making them jump from one party to another. However, the second doubt was even more relevant. How do the voters of Barcelona define themselves against the independence movement? The fact that Podemos and the commons appeared just when Convergencia decided to bet on the independence movement yielded an enormous percentage of uncertainty. More than a third of the people of Barcelona had voted for a party that did not define itself in favor of or against the independence process. Such thing generated enormous doubts and each political leader used this in its advantage, on the one hand, neither Podemos nor the commons had independence in their programs nor endorsed the unilateral referendum as something binding, but as a simple protest, and that was the constitutionalists point. On the other hand some pro-independence leaders argued that the commons supported the theoretical "right to decide" of Catalonia, and even President Quim Torra added them unceremoniously to the secessionist cause. However, after these four years of doubts, the combination of the results of the municipal elections and the consultation of Ada Colau's bases has produced enlightening results. First, the sum of unequivocally constitutionalist forces has surpassed the unequivocally nationalists in councilors, but considering only these data would mean committing two important mistakes. The first would be not to count the independence votes given to the CUP and candidates such as Graupera's Primaries or PxC, which despite not obtaining representation have their relevance, as well as constitutionalist parties such as VOX, UPyD or DCIDE, which would add to the constitutionalist side. This mistake is easily fixed counting the votes instead of the councilors, but the biggest mistake would be to ignore the hitherto unknown positioning of Colau's commons. And that's the data that Ada Colau has provided when consulting its bases so that they chose between a pact of government with a nationalist left party or one with a non nationalist left that until recently demonized. The bases, in spite of an aggressive campaign of ERC that included massive spreading of posters and "escraches" to the mayoress, decided unmistakably for the most constitutionalist pact, with an irrefutable 71%. Being able to finally divide the hitherto undefined 38% of votes obtained by Colau according to the positioning of its bases, we would obtain that only 6.03% of Barcelonians voted an "independentist Colauism", while a 14.63% would have voted a "Constitutionalist Colauism". With these figures in hand and counting the candidacies without representation, it can already be stated without equivocation that the Catalan capital is mostly constitutionalist. Just over 54% of voters in Barcelona reject independence, compared to 45% who defend it. In fact, if the consultation of Colau had been carried out in the rest of Catalan capitals, the truth is that both Tarragona and Lleida would have socialist governments. They are the vetoes of socialists and common to the parties located to their right that have granted the mayorship to nationalist forces that have not enough votes. Until now Ada Colau has done as much as possible to not position herself in the nationalist axis. A presumed equidistance that she has often expressed speaking as a constitutionalist but acting as an independentist, without really convincing either one side or the other. However, from now on, Manuel Valls' twisted gift has caused the Barcelona mayor to finally face the choice she never wanted to make. Now she knows what his bases do think, and she'll not be able to ignore it. Leer másCourt sentence favorable to Inma Alcolea, the police agent persecuted for not submitting to nationalism
This Thursday has been made public the ruling of the Court of Justice of Catalonia in which it admits the appeal of the Mosso de Escuadra Inma Alcolea, therefore revoking the seven months suspension of employment and salary, as well as the forced transfer, measures all of them imposed by the division of internal affairs of the Catalan autonomous police. Inma Alcolea is Mosso de Escuadra of the Generalitat of Catalonia, a regional police force as professional and efficient as the others, but with an undisguised politicization that begins at the top and decreases as one descends the ranks. Many Catalans call this force "genestapo", for its connivance with the nationalist political ideology of the Generalitat, but for those Mossos who put law before politics (and they should be all), the force has its own internal "genestapo" : The department of internal affairs. The judges have warned the Home Affairs Department of the Generalitat that it can't impose sanctions of this caliber with immediate application if it's not for a much stronger motivation than the one provided, especially when the cause that is supposed to have motivated the sanctions is still pending of judgment. Going further, the judges have warned the Homeland Affairs Department that they have violated the presumption of innocence of the Mosso Alcolea. Nationalist Mossos like Albert Donaire can exercise activism in hours of service and even in uniform while Constitutionalists Mossos such as Inma Alcolea are sanctioned for expressing their opinion in the civil field and outside working hours, which is more evident than anything else the harassment to which the agents who want to develop their functions without submitting to the nationalist ideology and critical of the politicization of the force are subject of. There are already several complaints that the constitutionalist mosso has filed against each sanction that has been considered unfair, and until now, the judges have always agreed with her. The desire to denounce these injustices is what leads Inma Alcolea to collaborate with the constitutionalist radio station Onda Layetana, linked to this medium, from where she presents the radio space "A este lado de la ley" (At this side of law), denouncing directly and uninhibited the injustices carried out within the Catalan autonomous police. Leer másThe Catalan 'referendum' on October 1st was supported from more than 100 false twitter accounts linked to ERC
Twitter has eliminated and denounced the activity of up to 130 false accounts, actually robots, apparently linked to the nationalist Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya and which were used in a coordinated way to massively influence public opinion. Although the party denies the facts and claims to have learned it from the press, the Twitter company has made the relationship public because it has detected malicious activity unmistakably related to specific actors. According to the information published in El País, Twitter says that most of the accounts were created at the same time (December 12, 2018) and acted jointly, giving wide dissemination to selected tweets by the then Vice-president of the Generalitat, Oriol Junqueras, as well as the deputy Gabriel Rufián, as well as other politicians, all from Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya. Twitter has unveiled this information in the framework of an internal investigation into attempts to manipulate public opinion, which has revealed similar performances of Russian, Venezuelan and Iranian accounts. It's in this type of manipulation of public opinion that this "external action" of Catalan nationalism has been framed. It's not the first time that Catalan nationalism uses false accounts on twitter to try to influence public opinion. Two months after the illegal referendum on October 1, Twitter Audit revealed that 32% of the followers of Pilar Rahola and others were actually false. In fact, Twitter Audit allows us to check the authenticity of the followers of the most popular accounts with ease, and that yields amazing results, because if a normal user does not usually have false followers, political leaders can overcome 30% of false followers. (robots that are nourished by their tweets). However, cases like Oriol Junqueras, which has almost 40% of false followers (check here), exceed of the norm. Leer másStrasbourg knocks down the second demand of Catalan nationalism
The demand of Carme Forcadell against her preventive detention is inadmissible according to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Forcadell not only denounced that her preventive detention wasn't appropriate (although the flight of several of her comrades before the courts began to search for them seems sufficient justification), but also denounced violation of fundamental rights of assembly and elections, in terms similar to those of the first demand that Strasbourg already rejected. Having not been a joint decision, but adopted by a single judge, it wasn't made public in the same way as the resolution we already knew and the exact reason for the dismissal hasn't been disclosed, but the truth is that it was rejected in March, and the most probable reason is that the claim was considered inadmissible for not having respected the judicial instances, since before resorting to the Strasbourg court it should have been presented before the Spanish Constitutional Court. Having not followed this route, the ECHR has supposedly decided to reject the claim. It's unlikely that Carme Forcadell's lawyer could disregard the order to be followed within the courts, so it's difficult to find a reason to file a claim that can't succeed. If we enter the field of speculation we could venture some hypotheses: When filing the lawsuit, the lawyers only tried to generate a short-term holder and didn't really think about the judgment. By resorting to Strasbourg without going through the Constitutional, it was intended to send the message that the legitimacy of the Spanish Constitutional Court or the Spanish Constitution was not recognized. Corcadell's lawyer thought that Strasbourg judges would not be aware of the wrong procedure. Forcadell's lawyer wasn't very good. In any case up to now the independence movement is turning against the judgments of the ECHR, the most devastating being the first, which came to qualify as 'illegal' the referendum of October 1 and the action of the Spanish state as 'necessary'. And what is more relevant, it established these qualifications as the reference framework from which all future judgments related to the challenge carried out in the fall of 2017 would be analyzed. In the case of the first widespread sentence, nationalism "counterattacked" with distraction maneuvers, giving maximum diffusion to a non-binding report calling for the "immediate release" of the prisoners, prepared by a working group that collaborates with the UN and that has Ben Emerson as a link with the external action of Catalan nationalism. In this case, it seems that more similar reports can't be preseented, so, given the prospect that the numerous complaints filed with Strasbourg following the 2017 challenge will return in the form of unfavorable sentences, the ANC and other secessionist entities are arranging transport for a demonstration in Strasbourg that they claim to be massive, in order to exert pressure. Leer másReactions to the judgment of the Catalan independentists: From 'the Francoist Europe' to 'the VOX shirt'
Roger Torrent, president of the Parliament of Catalonia, said this week in a radio interview that the Spanish judges "wear the VOX T-shirt under the toga" (in reference to the spanish far right party), because apparently the accusation's arguments (that the September and October acts of 2017 constitute a coup d'etat and that the response of the government was necessary) has been an offense for the nationalist 'story'. Once such a graphic image has been digested as little credible (literally or figuratively) as that of the judges of the court wearing VOX T-shirts under their robes, it can be assumed that that same shirt is the one that must wear (always following the line of thought of the president of the Catalan parliament) the scrupulous judges of the European Court of Human Rights who reached exactly the same conclusions that Spanish judges have now reached, when from Strasbourg they responded to the allegations of "violation of the right of assembly" during the cancellation from the Spanish government of the plenary session of the Catalan Parliament destined to declare the independence, affirming that such intervention was "necessary in a democratic state", as they would have affirmed if Lieutenant Colonel Tejero, when arrested after the attempt of coup d'état on February 23, 1973, had alleged that the army had requisitioned him the weapon "attacking his private property." That same apparent outrage was also shown this week by fled ex-president Carles Puigdemont when he was denied access to the European Parliament thus avoiding his umpteenth performance. His speech accusing the European institutions of having been "swallowed up by the spirit of Francoism" still makes the ears of community leaders whistle. The same surprise and disappointment has been demonstrated by the delegate president Quim Torra in the face of the increasingly evident possibility of a sentence that recognizes the attempted coup d'état. In the case of the most inactive president (at least in terms of management) of the long history of Catalan politics, his response has been to plan a "forceful and massive" response that will undoubtedly be staged after the holidays in what promises to be a September and a particularly intense October. The surprise reactions of the leaders of the "procés" seem out of tune before the development of a judgment issued live, followed by the entire European press, without possibility of manipulation, irreproachable in its forms and that has offered few surprises and most of them negative for the secessionist cause. However, these apparently exaggerated reactions seem aimed at achieving the goal of preparing the environment to "warm up" the return to work after the holidays and create a state of mind that can favor a pro-independence majority in more than likely anticipated autonomic elections (that would be the fifth in nine years, which means a call every two years, double that in any other community). Because on this occasion the secessionism wants to turn that probable elections into a fourth referendum process (counting the illegal referendums of 9-N and 1-O and the "plebiscitary" elections of 27-S), for, according to instructions of the ANC, re-declare unilateral independence if the independence movement exceeds 50% of votes, something that has never happened in Catalonia in regional or general elections. And although the CEO himself (the Catalan CIS) clearly reflects that the rejection of independence exceeds the supports, they plan to co-operate in generating a situation that will once again unbalance the balance in their favor. Few factors are going to modulate that foreseeable confrontation. An agreement between constitutional forces would be devastating for the independence movement, since it would avoid the habitual loss of votes for disintegration between forces, but although the new positions of actors such as Valls and Collboni facing the Barcelona city hall open an unexplored path of high political agreements, the certain thing is that the translation of that strategy to the autonomic scope seems very little probable. The republication of the agreement between independence, curiously, seems even more complicated, after the passage of the CUP to irrelevance, the exchange of forces between republicans and post-convergence and the debacle of the latter, whose leadership is debated between Puigdemont, Torra and the rest of PDECAT leaders. Another important factor is the foreseeable arrival of more sentences of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, which was flooded months ago of denunciations by nationalism and that could be dictating sentences that, if going in the line of the first, would sink the credibility and the international support that Catalan nationalism could still preserve. Leer másThe spokeswoman of the Government of Catalonia refuses to answer questions in Spanish
It has happened again this week after the last meeting of the Catalan executive. The spokesperson of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Meritxell Budó, has again raised controversy by refusing to respond to journalists who asked her questions in Spanish. Given the complaints of those present, the spokeswoman stated that "the rules" establish that the questions are carried out in Catalan first and that at the end of the question round, the media can "repeat" any of the questions in Spanish and they will be given the translated answer, but in no way can they ask new questions in that language. Immediately the journalists have protested, affirming to ignore those presumed "rules". It should be remembered that Spanish is not only one of the two official languages in Catalonia, but it's the most widespread language in this community and it's qualified in the Generalitat's own statistics as the mother tongue of 51% of Catalans, surpassing Catalan, which is the mother tongue of 36%. Spanish is the language in which most Catalans read books, watch television, go to the cinema ... despite which the nationalist government excludes it from education and public labeling, and finishes the merchants who use it in their businesses unless accompanied by Catalan, however, encouraging monolingualism in Catalan. Is still recent the "mathematical" polemic that Meritxell Budó played after the last municipal elections, when the sum of the nationalist councilors of Barcelona fell from 18 to 15 and, despite everything, the spokeswoman insisted that the independence movement "had grown". Leer másColau will be mayor again thanks to Valls
The play of Valls topped by Collboni will finally pay off. Nationalism will not take over the Catalan capital. This has been decided at the moment in which Ada Colau announced this week that she would again opt for the mayor of Barcelona. He did not need to mention that his candidacy has all the numbers to be chosen thanks to the generosity of Councilman Manuel Valls, who gives him the votes he needs, and the socialist Jaume Collboni, willing to a left pact that leaves Colau free to seat mayoress. The reactions of the most voted party, Esquerra Republicana, did not wait. The nationalists tried to turn Barcelona into "the capital of the Republic", but the fact of not being able to join the independence parties, which have lost strength in the Barcelona town hall, has relied on the will of the "equidistant" mayoress anti-system , forced to finally decide between left not nationalist and left nationalist. This commitment of rival opponents (Valls and Colau demonstrated during their televised debate that chemistry that only the big enemies have) is the consequence of a very pressing dilemma for Manuel Valls, and is to choose between what is possibly an inefficient management of the resources of Barcelona or the plunder of them to support and enhance the nationalist movement. And Valls has taken an unexpected decision that has led to unusual situations as even right-wing constitutionalists are happy to have a "communist" and anti-system mayor. Social networks have been filled with reproaches from the nationalist side, directed mostly towards Colau. In these reproaches, the voices of Esquerra Republicana make him feel ashamed to agree with "the caste" (despite the fact that they present themselves with an almost octogenarian politician, with a surname and roots and who has always lived in the shadow of power). There have also been acknowledgments, from the Constitutionalist side, very specially directed to Manuel Valls. "Thank you Valls" has been the bare acknowledgment widely spread for the newcomer councilor whose strategy has been an indisputable sign that if you know how to play well the cards of politics, any force can make a difference. Far from profiling the decline of a political figure, the partner of Citizens seems to be laying the groundwork for an interesting career that is not yet managed to glimpse. Leer másGonzalo Boye's master plan, knocked down by spoilers
It wasn't the intelligence services of the CNI that exposed the secret plan to which the former president of the Generalitat Carles Puigdemont and his lawyer, the former ETA collaborator Gonzalo Boye, insistently referred, but his own followers. It was the commotion that arose between the independentists when commenting a tweet of the José Ramón Bauzá, Ciudadanos MEP, in which it showed a temporary credential of "European Parliament" what made them debate and speculate on if those temporary passes were the means with which Boye and Puigdemont thought to sneak into the European institution. Obviously the temporary accreditations do not grant any privilege or immunity, but allow access to the facilities, which Puigdemont could have taken advantage of the day of the constitution of the Chamber to appear in the photo and pass it to the government of Spain in another "ingenious" advertising maneuver. In fact, some members of Esquerra Republicana had already obtained their passes as a test, with what Puigdemont and Comín took for granted its advertising maneuver. But as reported by El Español, the many enthusiastic comments of nationalist supporters on social networks ended up alerting the constitutionalist deputies, who warned the president of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani of the intentions of the fled leaders to take advantage of the courtesy pass to make a show, which led to the surveillance and denial of it for the fleeing nationalists. This generated a situation of inequality among the MEPs who had fled with respect to the rest of Spanish MEPs, promptly denounced by the secessionism, but more quickly corrected by the Solomonic method of denying and revoking the temporary authorizations to ALL Spanish MEPs, who can access the definitive accreditations, but after passing through Madrid, and swearing the constitution as required by spanish law. Unveiled and frustrated the master plan of Catalan nationalism (little more ingenious than the occurrence of the showman Santi Millán that year he managed to sneak into the Hollywood Oscars gala with a card from the Caprabo supermarkets) the wait has been short for the usual reactions, such as nationalism paying a trip to Brussels to dozens of people to demonstrate asking for access to parliament for the fled leaders, or have a group of European parliamentarians sign a petition in the same direction. Of course the number of signatory MEPs is only 7 out of 751, and all of them are nationalists or communists of the unitary left. But at least these maneuvers are achieving for the independence movement its main objective: to fill TV3 and other nationalist media with headlines that divert attention from the most relevant news of the year: the demolishing ruling of the European Court of Human Rights that denied that Spain violated the rights of the Catalan parliamentarians and ruled that the "referendum" of October 1, 2017 was a crime and that there was nothing democratic about it. Leer másPuigdemont discredits himself by calling the European Union 'Francoist'
The new elected representatives of Catalan nationalism for the European Parliament have not been very happy about their refusal to enter the institution. This happened yesterday, when Carles Puigdemont and Toni Comín tried to access the European Parliament to collect a provisional accreditation that is usually given to the new MEPs as a procedure until they get their governments' definitive accreditation. However, before the (well-founded) suspicion that the Spanish Government would not grant their accreditation to the escapees since they would be arrested when they stepped on Spanish soil, they were denied such courtesy, which they probably already planned to upgrade as if from a victory was about Europeanism over the "vile" Spain. However, the cautious behavior of the European Parliament officials (totally justifiable, since the European Parliament already denied the expresident the authorization to attend an event for security reasons) has spoiled the small triumph that both Puigdemont and his lawyer, the Controversial Gonzalo Boye (who served his sentence for collaborating with ETA in the kidnapping of Emiliano Revilla) had to take credit, and that has provoked these temperamental statements against the European Union. As the legal services of the European Parliament have repeatedly indicated, to exercise the functions as a member of the European Parliament, there's no alternative but to go to Madrid, comply with Spanish law and swear by the constitution. It's not the first time that the fled ex-president questions the European institution when it does not agree with him. Known is the time in which he stated before the European media that "maybe, the Catalans should be able to decide whether or not they want to belong to this European Union." Every time Puigdemont has told the MEPs that in Spain there is a Francoist residue, as incredible as it may seem, the interlocutors at least have listened to him, as it's a statement that many can not verify, but the current assertions that it is the Europe itself, which is being swallowed up by 'Francoist values', can be the proof of the low credibility of the Waterloo tenant's accusations. Leer másWhy the Strasbourg decision is so relevant
Yesterday, the spokesperson of the Generalitat, Meritxell Budó, attended a press conference in which she gave explanations about the denial of the demand of the members of the Catalan Parliament on the alleged violation of their rights. She said "we accept the resolution of the Human Rights Committee" and added, defiantly, "We hope that the resolutions that have to come and are favorable to our cause will be accepted by the unionists..". But aside from the democratic anomaly of describing as "its cause" (of the government of Catalonia) what should only be the cause of the independence movement, the spokeswoman did not mention the true scope of the Strasbourg response. Because the response has been much worse for them than they could have expected. What the demand to Strasbourg requested was a statement on whether the rights of parliamentarians had been violated by the suspension of the plenary session on October 9, 2017 in which Puigdemont planned to conclude the coup d'état initiated on September 6 of the same year with the approval of unconstitutional laws. Therefore, the answer that nationalism needed was "Yes, your rights have been violated, we condemn Spain", but they knew that another could come: "No. The request is rejected". However, the latter would have occurred if the offended parliamentarians had made a brief demand, without frills and adjusted to the (their) facts. Instead they presented it with their usual adornments regarding the bases of democracy, the vote of the sovereign people of October 1, and so on. And, of course, that forced the Human Rights Court to also analyze the merits of these issues and decide on them. And the position adopted, although it's logical and predictable, is a slap in the foundations of the argumentary of the independence movement and almost serves as a prologue to the judgments of the "procés" trial. Because Strasbourg doesn't limit itself to ensuring that their rights have not been violated, but it unequivocally expresses the following facts: On the claim for violation of rights Interference with the applicants' right to freedom of assembly could reasonably be considered a "pressing social need". The decision of the Parliament's Bureau to convene a plenary session violates the decisions taken by the Constitutional Court that pursue the objective of protecting the constitutional order. The Court considers that the suspension of the plenary session had pursued, among other things, the legitimate objectives of "guaranteeing public safety", "preventing disorder" and "protecting the rights and freedoms of others". By adopting a suspension order, therefore, the Constitutional Court had endeavored to ensure compliance with its own decisions. That suspension seems justified because, as the Court pointed out, the constitutional courts were empowered to take the necessary measures to guarantee compliance with their judgments. The Court concluded that the interference in the plaintiffs' right to freedom of assembly ... was "necessary in a democratic society". The Court agreed with the Constitutional Court that a political party could campaign for a change in the legislation or constitutional structures of the State, provided that it used legal means, but it's necessary to avoid situations in which parliamentarians representing a minority could not fulfill their duties. About the referendum on October 1 On October 1, 2017 an unauthorized referendum was held to decide on the secession of Catalonia from Spanish territory. The Court noted that for a case involving referendums to be within the scope of Article 3 of Protocol No. 1, the process in question had to be carried out under legal conditions to guarantee the free expression of popular opinion in the election of legislature. The Court considered that these conditions had not been met in the present case. The plenary session of the Parliament had been convened in compliance with a law that had been suspended by the Constitutional Court and therefore has been temporarily inapplicable. Therefore, the decision taken by the Parliament's Bureau was due to a manifest lack of compliance with the decisions issued by the Constitutional Court aimed at protecting the constitutional order. The European Court of Human Rights has unanimously declared that the request is inadmissible. The decision is final. (In other words, unappealable). This is the point. The Strasbourg court has not only declared that the rights of the parliamentarians were not violated that day, but it has deployed a whole argument that exposes the antidemocratic behavior of the independentist parliamentarians, an argument unanimously ratified by seven judges from different countries, and that Strasbourg will not contradict in its subsequent sentences, but will serve as the basis for many of them. You can consult the full resolution at the following link: https://media.e-noticies.com/img/20190528/decision-forcadell-i-lluis-and-others-v.-spain---decision-to-suspend-the-plenary-sitting-of-the-parliament-of-the-autonomous-community-of-catalonia.pdf Leer másThe independence movement is reduced in Barcelona and crashes in Tabarnia
The nationalist party Esquerra Republicana has been the most voted force in Barcelona. However, the independence movement as a whole barely reaches 39% in Barcelona. In fact, the independence movement has fallen sharply in Barcelona, going from 18 to 15 councilors in four years (out of a total of 41). The non-independentist forces rise from 23 to 26 seats, with the peculiarity that the parties that oppose secession go up from 12 to 16, surpassing the nationalist parties by themselves. In fact, Esquerra has only won the elections because the nationalist vote has been concentrated and the constitutionalist is dispersed. Especially relevant is the case of the PDECAT, which can barely claim a third of the nationalism, and the CUP is outside the Barcelona consistory and most of the consistories of the area included in the concept "Tabarnia", which includes the coastal area of Barcelona and Tarragona and it is structured around the large municipalities. In this area, the so-called "red belt" has revalidated its color (socialism), with Hospitalet del Llobregat being the main bastion of socialist constitutionalism, with Santa Coloma, Sant Boi, Sabadell, Esplugues, Gava and Sant Vicenç dels Horts (Junqueras' hometown) among many others. Badalona has also been awakened constitutionalist, but under the banner of the Popular Party of García Albiol, while in Castelldefels the PP is also the first force, although the sum of the PSC and the populist "commons" can evict it. Outside of Tabarnia, the small Catalan municipalities are subject to the dictatorship of fear. This means that in most of them it's indifferent how many constitutionalist voters there are, because they have no one to vote for, since there aren't constitutionalist majors. They are afraid to participate. On a national scale, the debacle of Podemos is widespread. The "commons" throughout Spain recede dramatically. The losses of their two biggest strongholds (Madrid and Barcelona) are mortal wounds, and those wounds spread to the peripheral nationalisms with which they keep so much complicity. As vaccinated by the ravages caused in Catalonia by nationalism, the Galicians have made the Tides sink, the constitutionalist force Navarra Suma has expelled the nationalism of Navarre (one of the few occasions in which Ciudadanos has shown that adding can go well), and in the Balearic Islands the nationalists are now irrelevant, (which could result in the disappearance of the current laws of linguistic discrimination). However, the more moderate nationalisms are reinforced: This is the case of the PNV, more focused on scratching budgets to the government of Madrid, or Compromís, far from rupture positions. In fact, the growing presence of Esquerra Republicana in large municipalities of Barcelona has to be understood more as a compaction of the independence movement to less disruptive positions to the detriment of the PDECAT (which only has the consolation of beating Esquerra in Europe, where Puigdemont and Junqueras would be the faces if they did not finish stopped and suspended respectively) and of the almost extinct CUP. Leer másUnidos SI: The constitutionalist split of Podemos that defends Tabarnia
Since the phenomenon called Podemos capitalized the 15-M movement to found a political party located practically on the far left, the accelerated growth of that phenomenon was used in all the Spanish autonomies to shelter minority movements of a nationalist nature. Especially striking was the purge in Catalonia of the dissenting voices that asked the recently released "circles" of Podemos not to include identity nationalism in their ranks and consider it "chaste", like the rest of the ruling oligarchy they claimed to fight. Such a purge eliminated the discrepancy and left confessed independentists like Lluís Franco Ravell (who decided to hide the last name "Franco") or Ada Colau, both independence voters in the pseudo-referendum of 9-N, and that since then began to practice that well-known "equidistance" consisting in acting as independentistas and saying that they were not. The phenomenon was reproduced on a national scale, with the Valencian Compromís and the Galician Mareas. In each community, Podemos defended the minorities attacking the majorities, to extremes such as having their electoral posters in Asturias only in Asturian, a very minority language. Since then there have been many internal fights, mergers and continuous splits in the purple formation, with name changes included, from Podemos to Unidos Podemos and now Unidas Podemos. Many of the discrepancies have been, precisely, related to the double standard by which the purple formation has always denounced the dirty deeds of Spain, but never those of the independence movement, its preferred partner. In fact, the complexation of the left before the identity nationalisms is as generalized as incomprehensible. Movements that are based on equality, brotherhood among the workers and the absence of borders are cowed by an extreme right-wing nationalism made up with a fine left varnish very easy to scratch, and they refuse to denounce their evident hypocrisy for fear of be called 'fascists'. Until finally people get tired. And this is where Unidos SI appears. A formation that splits from Unidos Podemos to occupy the same area of the left / right spectrum as the purple formation or the CUP, but that in the other spectrum, that of constitutionalism / secessionism, is closer to the PP or to Ciudadanos. And although it's difficult for Spanish people to get used to it, the truth is that it's a much more coherent position, since the real left has always tried to abolish borders, never to lift them. That's why the new formation, still small in size, not only groups purple disagreements, but disenchanted socialists, as well as "comunes" of other formations and ex-affiliates of Iniciativa / Els Verds. Because far left constitutionalism was an electoral space that still had to be filled, the gap fill that makes constitutionalism to be totally transversal, from the far right of VOX, passing through the right of the PP, the center (depending on the day) of Ciudadanos, a socialist center-right too complicit with secessionism and new formations of non-nationalist left, such as Izquierda en Positivo or DCIDE, ending in the new Unidos SI. In front of them: the secessionist alignment, with the irredentary far right of the MIC, the most disguised far right of the PDECAT, the pseudo-left of ERC, the accomplice far left of the "comunes" and the extreme far left of the CUP, and without known center. But Unidos SI still has another surprise. Within a leftist position more radical than those of DCIDE or Izquierda en Positivo, the new formation openly supports the idea of Tabarnia, which implies the division of Catalonia into two autonomous communities, one for the most constitutionalist regions, fundamentally large coastal and industrialized cities, and another for nationalists, mostly small inland and mainly agricultural municipalities. We'll see what may be the scope of this new party that has been presented by surprise in some municipalities and that already has a candidate for Barcelona, Julio Villacorta, in addition to presenting itself in other municipalities such as Blanes. Leer másSpain among the most democratic countries according to the V-DEM 2019 report
At this point it's not news that Spain remains in the top of the table in all democracy reports worldwide, but given the work invested by the diplomatic actions of Catalan nationalism to offer the opposite message is worth noting the little damage that these actions seem to produce to the reputation of our country. Because the organisms that measure the levels of democracy don't do it based on political messages or newspapers headers, but on objective data such as legal guarantees or the level of freedom in each country and such, as the report says, "hundreds of factors" that help to make a reliable portrait of the democratic quality of a country. The V-DEM report, which classifies liberal democracies, also compares 2018 data with those of a decade earlier, showing whether a country has become more democratic (Tunisia) or more authoritarian (United States). At the high part of the table, from Spain to the beginning, all the countries analyzed show a stable democracy, highlighting the case of South Korea, which has experienced a remarkable improvement that places it among the most democratic countries in the world. The full report can be found here: https://www.v-dem.net/media/filer_public/99/de/99dedd73-f8bc-484c-8b91-44ba601b6e6b/v-dem_democracy_report_2019.pdf Leer másCatalonia marginalizes Spanish, its most widely spoken language, in schools
The results of the study carried out in more than two thousand schools in Catalonia leaves no room for errors. Spanish is barely allowed in Catalan schools. It's not that the linguistic imposition and school indoctrination were precisely a secret, but since the socialist government concealed the last report on the subject, those who defend the coexistence between the two most spoken languages of Catalonia lacked data with which to demonstrate what that every day they saw in their children's schools. Now they finally have it on paper. As the report confirms, the imposition is carried out in three ways: The teaching itself: In almost all cases, the teachings are performed only in Catalan, with the only exception of the Spanish language class. The clear objective is to ensure that students "normalize" the use of Catalan and consider Spanish a foreign language. On many occasions, this monolingualism extends outside the classroom, in the corridors and especially at playtime. Teachers know that if children are forced to speak Catalan with each other in the yard they are more likely to end up doing the same on the street. Internal communication. Both the conversations between professors and the communiqués and printed circulars must be monolingual in Catalan. This is the way to put pressure on teachers to "adapt" or resign. Adding this factor to the usual ideological screening (it's easier to ascend and reach positions of responsibility if you have the card of a nationalist party) the complicity of teachers for monolingual indoctrination is achieved. Communication with parents. This is the most singular channel of the three, because it's intended by the force of persuasion to force Spanish as the only language of communication between parents and teachers, despite the fact that in many cases the majority of parents are Castilian speakers. This is helped by a condescending attitude towards Spanish, which is treated as a "second language" that should only be tolerated if Catalan is unknown and, therefore, reserved for uneducated people. This situation contrasts with all the studies that show that the Spanish language is the spoken language of the majority of Catalans (51% according to the official data of the Generalitat itself) compared to Catalan, which is in second place (with 36% also according to the Generalitat). Outside the borders of Catalonia this situation of marginalization of the main language would be considered weird at least, but years of habituation and a very strong identity policy has achieved that in Catalonia parents who want bilingual education silence themselves so as not to harm the future of their children. The reality is that today, in Catalonia, parents who want a plural, bilingual (or trilingual) education free of indoctrination must do what nationalist politicians do: take their children to private schools, where they are offered bilingualism as a very coveted bonus that the public school can't offer. So, the only position in which the Catalans could speak without fear of reprisals would be to submit the linguistic imposition to referendum, something that the nationalist parties have denied by all ways referring to a "great consensus" that has never shown, and an "effectiveness" denied by a multitude of reports. This situation is easier to understand if one takes into account that the last person in charge of education chosen by Puigdemont, Clara Ponsatí (currently fleeing from justice) apologized when swearing in because she didn't know how to express herself in Spanish, which is common in large part of the Catalan nationalist politicians, who have come to openly presume their ignorance of Spanish, the most spoken language in Catalonia. Leer másManifesto in France in favor of respect for the rights and freedoms of the Spanish
This new manifesto is a response to the controversial document signed three months ago by a small group of French senators in March 2019, entitled "For the respect of freedoms and fundamental rights in Catalonia". This document, promoted by the diplomatic work of Catalan nationalism, was disseminated by a minority fraction of the French senators and presented with great fanfare by the nationalist media as a great democratic triumph. The response, however, has been signed and endorsed by many authorized voices of France and comes in the form of a manifesto similar to the previous title "For the respect of the rights and freedoms of all citizens of Spain". Among the signatories there are university professors such as Jean-Pierre Étienvre (Sorbonne) or Barbara Loyer (University of Paris), prestigious historians such as Benedict Pellistrandi, as well as researchers, writers and media directors, in what is a whole endorsement to the Spanish democratic and judicial system. The manifesto, addressed expressly to the signatories of the previous manifesto, asks them to recognize "the reality of Spanish democracy", cleanliness and transparency in the trial (broadcasted live) to the leaders of the "procés" who abused their functions to "impose a system that seems imperative to them at the risk of causing hatred among citizens". They also call attention to the nationalist distortion of the concept of "dialogue" and denounce that the senators who signed the manifesto pro-nationalism use the term "repression" for the simple application of the law and call "victims" elected officials who refuse to apply the law of the country for which they have been elected. The manifesto is clear and forceful, and has been published in the same media as the manifesto pro-nationalism, the digital Mediapart, a research and opinion journal created by the ex-editor of Le Monde. The manifesto can be consulted (in French) at the following link: https://blogs.mediapart.fr/bloyer/blog/270319/pour-le-respect-des-droits-et-des-libertes-de-tous-les-citoyens-despagne Leer másMarta Sanchez interrupts her performance due to hispanophobic attacks
It happened on the night of Friday the 19th, at the Popstar concert by Brian Cross Special LGTBI Edition, held in Badalona. The concert has started without incident, with previous appearances by the artists Famous and Ruth Lorenzo, who have performed without suffering any kind of interruption. However the appearance of Marta Sanchez has been the signal for various people to throw eggs and tomatoes simultaneously to the singer, preventing her from singing. The attack on the singer has been planned and directed specifically to her from various points, which requires a coordinated plan given the complexity of entering a concert loaded with eggs and hold two songs without breaking them. In addition, the attack have been accompanied by cries of "Fascist", both in Catalan and in Spanish. It should be noted that "fascist" is the adjective most used by Catalan nationalists to define those who disagree with their ideology. In the case of Marta Sánchez, who a few months ago sang the Spanish anthem in one of her concerts and who doesn't hide her position in favor of the unity of her country, for a part of nationalism she has already made enough merits to receive such a qualification. Spokesmen for several Constitutionalist forces have immediately responded by condemning the attack, including the socialist mayor of Badalona, Alex Pastor, the former mayor of the same municipality, Xavier García Albiol (PP), the aspiring mayor for Barcelona, Manuel Valls, and others. Albiol has gone further by mentioning that there are unconfirmed indications that points that the youths of the CUP may be behind the attacks. Art and culture are suffering acutely the consequences of the independence conflict. The same Friday, not far from there, on the set of the program 'Ara i Aquí', of TVE in Catalonia, the singer Rosa Lopez, still unaware of what was happening to her fellow singer, confessed her love for Barcelona, city that preferred to Madrid, but discarded to move in "baceuse of the current atmosphere of tension". Remember that Rosa has been called "Rosa de España" for years. Marta is not the first artist to see her performance boycotted by nationalism. It's recent the interruption of a performance of Joan Manel Serrat on his anniversary tour for the disc "Mediterraneo" in which an assistant demanded the singer to sing in Catalan, to which the singer replied that no one defended the Catalan as he did, but that was the tour of "Mediterráneo", a record sung entirely in Spanish. Leer másCiudadanos report 1.4 million unjustified payments from PDECAT
Although the trial of the 'Procés' and the endless election campaign overshadow the rest of the issues as far as the independence formations are concerned, the fact is that the corruption scandals continue to happen in the PDECAT just as they did when it was called CDC, DIL or any of its other denominations. According to the complaint filed to the prosecution by the municipal group of Ciudadanos, the amount allegedly diverted in unjustified payments would amount to 1.4 million euros, and the winners would be people in the convergent circle or from Esquerra Republicana, and always through related companies, as in the case of Raül Romeva's wife through book purchases with exorbitant prices and the bookstore where he worked. This and other scandals, both in the PDECAT and the ERC, are being overlapped by the gesticulations around the politicians judged and the most bitter campaign so far, since in quieter times they would possibly constitute a scandal instead of being, as now, little more than background noise. INGLÉS ESPAÑOL FRANCÉS Traducir del: inglés 93/5000 According to the complaint filed to the prosecution by the municipal group of Citizens, Leer másThe big companies re-examine their continuity in the Catalan Chamber of Commerce
The unexpected victory of the ANC in the "Cambra de Comerç", fruit of an aggressive campaign and a surprising participation of the small nationalist business, jeopardizes the continuity of large companies in the Catalan chamber and could encourage the already worrying flight of companies in Catalonia, that added to the drastic reduction of the business creation and to the increase of the bankruptcies in comparison with Madrid, throws a devastating panorama. After a convulsive month in which the controversy over the elimination of double security jumped to the media long before the elections, when these finally occurred more than 2,500 irregular votes were confirmed (numerous votes made from the same computers with the same IP addresses, other votes that were not registered..). The suspicions of manipulation led to an audit that was the shame of the organizers of the voting process, the Scytl company. Now, a week later, and despite the long and embarrassing audit, the results continue to give victory to "Eines de País" (country tools), the only platform with which the ANC encompassed the independence movement and that has finally conquered the absolute majority. The business community is still in shock, because the program of this entity, far from seeking business progress, subjects the business world to the greater glory of the non-existent "Catalan Republic" and, as its slogan goes, it promises to use the business fabric as tools of national construction Those responsible for large companies are waiting to see if any of the breakthrough initiatives of the winning force is materialized, and in that case, they'll leave the Chamber. This could cause a debacle in the chamber itself and cause not only the continued loss of business contributions, but also that of European funds, which are almost one third of their funding and could be denied if they confront the Spanish Chamber of Commerce. Leer másThe 'Escamots' are back - The far right-wing independence movement demonstrates in Lleida
On April 28, a parade of fascist independence movement has been held in the municipality of Torregrossa. The parade has been run by the MIC (Moviment Identitari Català), a far-right, xenophobic formation that rejects both Spaniards and immigrants alike, and is in favor of Catalan as the only language. His followers have taken to the streets in uniform with brown shirts and military greetings with Catalan identity symbols that paradoxically remind a lot to those of the Franco regime. The MIC has been topical after the attempted coup of 2017, when participating with the CDRs in the "country strikes" promoted by the Intersindical CSC of the terrorist Carles Sastre. In this tribute, which coincided with the general elections, the movement has worshiped the Badía brothers, promoters of the "Escamots", direct action groups that committed atrocities under the Companys regime and that were inspired by the fascist commandos of Mussolini. But they have also taken the opportunity to give their support to Nuria de Gispert for their xenophobic messages, aligning themselves with President Quim Torra, a well-known admirer of the Badia brothers and who in Europe is also framed on the extreme right. Leer másFinally De Gispert and Torra rectify their decision
The situation has ended up surpassing its protagonists. The former president of the Catalan parliament, Núria de Gispert, has finally yielded to the pressures and ended up renouncing the Cross of Sant Jordi, the highest honor granted by the Catalan institutions, and taking into account the profiles of the graceful and her Most staunch defender, the president of the Generalitat, Quim Torra, seemed like a prize for xenophobia. And it is that the frequent communications of both characters insulting and humiliating any political actor who did not share their postulates often entered the terrain of xenophobia against Spaniards, and not infrequently equating their compatriots with animals with clear vexatious intent. The lack of dissimulation in such messages, as well as the loss of prestige of the award meant that not only the constitutionalists showed their outrage, but the pro-independence rivals of the PDECAT reacted to an objectively criticizable situation and took advantage of it to set a "more dignified" profile and disfigure his low behavior to his rival. In spite of everything, both the rest of the political forces and some media consider that the damage is already done and that the prestige of the Cross of Sant Jordi (which has already been rejected by personalities of the stature of Rosa María Sardà or Albert Boadella ) has been very depleted. Leer másTorra keeps the Cross of Sant Jordi for De Gispert
The President of the Generalitat, Quim Torra, remains obstinate in maintaining the concession of the increasingly devalued Cross of Sant Jordi (the highest award that is granted from the Catalan institutions) to Nuria de Gispert. The proposal of the former president of the Parliament of Catalonia until 2015 for the highest Catalan award was questioned from the very first day because of her known xenophobic attacks against several politicians not related to nationalism. Inés Arrimadas has been one of her most habitual targets, and her repetitive tweets inviting her to "get off to Andalusia" more than known. But the leader of the most voted party in Catalonia is not the only recipient of their insults, but also Dolors Montserrat, Enric Millo, Carlos Girauta and others have also had to endure that the postconvergence separatist would equate them with "pigs" in a tweet about the increase of the meat export in Catalonia, taking place these last offenses when she had already been proposed for the Cross of Sant Jordi, and being already rejected by the own parliament of Catalonia for its insulting and excluding expressions. Despite everything, Quim Torra refuses to question the award, which is not surprising given his own history of openly racist insults in journalistic articles and tweets in which he calls non-Catalan Spaniards "beasts in human form", and of having a "genetic tare" to those Catalans who do not follow the slogans of the nationalist regime. Related thoughts tend to defend themselves. It's another discredit to the once prestigious Cross of Sant Jordi, which currently rewards mainly the affects of nationalism, reason why figures awarded with this distinction as director Isabel Coixet or actress Rosa Maria Sardà no longer gives any merit to it, until the point of making Rosa María Sardà herself go in person to the Generalitat to give it back. Leer másViladecans - Another town hall that allows Spanish again
Viladecans is the last municipality to repeal the monolinguistic imposition in the consistory. In this municipality of Baix Llobregat the use of Spanish in the municipal civil service has been excluded until now, despite being the majority language, considering Catalan as the only language in municipal regulations. Thus, Viladecans joins other Catalan consistories that have decided to adapt their regulations to the social reality of the population, such as Hospitalet and Lérida, where an initiative of Ciudadanos has allowed the coexistence of both languages, correcting a serious democratic anomaly that doesn't exist in any other territory of Europe and that reaches its maximum expression in the large municipalities and especially in the capital, Barcelona, which having only 25% Catalan-speaking inhabitants has Catalan as the only vehicular language of the municipality and excludes Spanish from all municipal signage, provoking completely aberrant situations such as those of official banners intended to the population and written in Catalan, Arabic and Urdu, but not in the language most widespread among the citizens. Unfortunately, in other municipalities where the Ciudadanos initiative was advancing bilingualism, as in Esplugues del Llobregat, this measure has been revoked by the nationalist parties with the votes of the Socialist Party, which has been key to return to the prevailing monolingualism in most of the Catalans municipalities. However, after the upcoming municipal elections, the balance of power could vary in many consistories, which could opt to harmonize the coexistence of the two languages of Catalonia. Leer másThe commissioner Ferràn López reveals the plan of secessionism
The statements of the mayor of the Mossos, Josep Lluis Trapero, and of the commissioner, Ferràn López, have been needed to confirm the plan of Puigdemont and Junqueras: To offer the world an appearance of democracy, to seek a violent confrontation between apparently peaceful people and the forces of order, and in case of obtaining sufficient violence, to declare independence. The line that joins the dots has been closed this Wednesday with the testimony of the commissioner Ferràn López, who comes to corroborate the previous testimonies of the main Mossos d'Esquadra interrogated in the trial of the "procés". Although few explanations are as clear as those of the economic vice president, Oriol Junqueras, who in this video confessed to his followers that the referendum was illegal, but that if they disobeyed the prohibition, they could show the world an image of people who vote and the Spanish government preventing them from "voting", and in that way, they would win. The Commissioner Lopez also agrees with the major Trapero in the subject of that Puigdemont was informed of the high probability of violent confrontations and in which the former president decided to continue with the confrontation, but it has also qualified that Puigdemont had the intention of declaring independence if a sufficient level of violence was reached, which reminds us of that well-known saying of the Catalan independence movement "a dead man would give us independence". Fortunately, despite the undoubted images of confrontation (inflated by the fake news and photos contributed by nationalist politicians such as Ramón Tremosa) the independence movement failed to present to the world the much needed deaths that would had helped to show the unfortunate reaction of the Spanish government as an authentic massacre of peaceful voters, so Puigdemont decided to wait a few days. In any case, an attempt was made to find the desired victimizing effect by manipulating the figures (more than 1000 wounded people were announced and then reduced to 900), which soon contrasted with the reality that only two "peaceful voters" were admitted into a hospital (one was an aggressor who hurled metal fences at the policemen and who was injured by a rubber ball, and the other one an elderly gentleman who suffered a heart attack while witnessing the confrontation, although he recovered) in front of the dozens of law enforcement officers who were reportly injured, but that the Spanish government, with its aforementioned clumsiness, did not disclose, which helped reinforce the nationalist story. In short, all you have to do is unite the points to understand a simple but twisted plan: To display a false image of peaceful democracy against armed repression ("Democracy" was the label on the posters that prepared the alibi for the coup d'état). It didn't matter that there was no legal framework nor international support, that the Venice commission did not recognize the necessary democratic conditions, that there was no opposition campaign, that the parties representing 53% of the Catalans did not validate that referendum, that the ballot boxes (opaque and made of plastic) arrived full of ballots, that a conversation was disclosed before the illegal referendum between nationalist politicians advancing the results that finally occurred, that old people and young children were used to prevent the police from closing the "voting" centers.. Nothing mattered, as long as the world could see people with ballots in their hands receiving blows from the police. It was a powerful image, and that's why it was sought, to provoke a visceral reaction from European citizens. But now the plan, apparently, is exposed. And the reaction of European citizens to being deceived can be very different. Leer másThe campaign of the catalan independence movement: Attack the premises of rival parties
Catalan nationalism has entered strongly into the electoral campaign, although in addition to exposing its intentions in meetings, it has also opted to show less democratic "arguments". While the leaders of the left-wing constitutionalist parties (PSOE), center (Citizens) and Right (PP and VOX) tour Catalonia presenting their programs, the members of Arràn (the most violent faction of the formation that made Quim Torra president) go through Catalonia attacking the headquarters of non-independentist political parties. The vandals themselves sign their actions, record them on video and share them on social networks. The last headquarters attacked is the one from Partido Popular in Terrassa, which already has had five attacks in less than a month. There have been countless attacks to territorial headquarters of Ciudadanos, Partido Popular, Vox and (to a lesser extent) Partido Socialista, with its premises smashed with hammers and vandalized with paint. The premises of the independentist parties are free from this wave of attacks, as well as the premises of the far-left populist parties whose support the independence movement needs. Even Quim Torra himself has been harassed by his CDRs (autonomous forces of intimidation), which have demanded even more radicalism, accusing him of not "being the people", subject to which Quim Torra has adressed (calling them "companions") saying that he is indeed "the people". None of the nationalist parties has condemned the attacks, which some of them considering them an expression of the "will of the people". Fortunately, there has been only material damage to these attacks, although CDRs and Arrán have also harassed their political opponents in the information tents in the middle of the street, where they have sometimes physically attacked non-independentists. Leer másFor the Scottish nationalists, their self-determination has already expired
The leader of the Scottish nationalist party and Prime Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, has proposed the call for a new independence referendum taking advantage of the Brexit crisis. Six years ago, the Scottish independence movement claimed the "right to decide" that the United Kingdom's constitution contemplates (since Scotland had been an independent country that was annexed to the United Kingdom) and exercised it in a bilateral and agreed referendum that was held in 2014 with all democratic guarantees. The independentistas did not reach the majority, reason why the sovereign town of Scotland decided to remain in the United Kingdom. Barely six years later, Brexit serves as an excuse for nationalists to invalidate the result of that vote and re-invoke a "right to decide" that invalidates what has already been decided, in a new referendum that in case of victory would be irreversible but in In case of defeat, he should only wait for any new political conflict to be invoked again. Nicola Sturgeon's announcement that he will channel an alleged "democratic mandate" for a new independence referendum has been quickly supported by the substitute president of Catalonia, Quim Torra, who has obviated all the differences between both processes, such as that Catalonia has never been a country, that the unilateral shock lacked any guarantee, that the Spanish constitution does not contemplate this option or that said constitution was supported in Catalonia by 90% of Catalans whose vote it is intended to invalidate. The political rivals of Sturgeon are taking advantage of this support to discredit the Scottish "neverendum" and to show the hypocrisy that can be invoked eternally after each defeat but irreversible in case of victory. Leer másThe Catalan nationalists of Torrelameu change the STOP for PAREU
It seems that English language also bothers them. Sectarianism and exclusion know no limits. Not content to exclude the Spanish language, the independentistas of the small municipality of Torrelameu (Lérida) also undertake it against the English language, since the mayor of Esquerra Republicana has replaced the STOP signs with others in which it says "PAREU", which not only constitutes a serious crime against road safety, but can also cause traffic accidents. Few independence initiatives show so clearly the exclusive character of this movement that advocates the implementation of a single language. Until now English was used by the independence movement in many areas as an alternative to Spanish by using a more widely used language, but now, the sectors of independence movement close to the monolingualist theses of the Koiné group remove their masks and defend the expulsion of any language different from Catalan. Leer másThe US reports: Catalan nationalism is repressive and there are no political prisoners
The 2019 human rights report, the latest annual report on human rights presented by the US State Department clarifies its position on the Catalan conflict, assuring that according to its criteria there are no political prisoners in Spain, but politicians imprisoned on very serious charges and in preventive prison by a demonstrated risk of flight, and supports the action of the Spanish justice. Likewise, the report emphasizes that no human rights NGO in the world supports the thesis of alleged political prisoners. The report, which analyzes the situation of human rights throughout the world, goes even further, ensuring that the independence movement severely represses freedom of expression, for which it mentions the growing harassment of journalists and cites Reporters Without Borders. The report thus denies the allegations of Quim Torra on alleged human rights abuses in Spain, and places the threat to freedom precisely in Catalan nationalism. It also cites the increase in hate crimes caused mostly by pro-independence activists, in parallel with a rise in anti-semitism, since it is worth noting that the Jewish population in Catalonia does not support Catalan nationalism due to its own history. You can consult the original report on human rights in Spain on the Human Rights Watch website. Leer másThe independence movement sought to restrict freedom in Catalonia
The recent investigations on the cause of the attempted coup d'etat of the Catalan nationalism have brought to the light the "papers of ex Vuez Vidal", that detail the plans of the independentism to seriously cut down the rights of the Catalan population. Below we detail some of the most relevant points revealed by these and other investigations. Eliminate the separation of powers. This was evidenced in the so-called "laws of disconnection", and more specifically in the "law of legal transience" approved in the parliament of Catalonia the tragic days 6 and 7 September 2017, according to which Catalonia transforms the Superior Court of Justice in a Supreme Court whose members will be appointed by the president at the proposal of a Mixed Commission formed by members of the Supreme Court and the government itself, which guarantees the absolute majority of the government in the election and control of the judges and submits the legislative power to the executive , something that does not exist in democratic Europe. Prohibit parties that question the Catalan constitution. This plan came to light a few days ago as a result of information from Europa Press concerning the papers intervened to the exjuez and nationalist activist Santiago Vidal, of whom we remember the recording in which he confessed that by October 1 the personal data would be obtained of all Catalans illegally. In these papers there appears the plan of not allowing the constitution of political parties that question the territorial integrity of Catalonia or that encourage a unity of Catalonia with Spain. It contrasts with the freedom that exists in Spain a country which does allow the existence of parties that question its constitution. Eliminate Spanish language to impose Catalan as the only language. We don't even need to refer to the disconnection laws, because it's something that the nationalist government applies de facto. The Spanish language, which is the mother tongue of the majority of Catalans (51% have Spanish as their mother tongue compared to 36% who have Catalan), is excluded from the Catalan public TV and radio channels, the labeling and Institutional communications, fine business owners who mark only in Spanish and its use in schools as a vehicular language is prohibited. The plans of the independence movement also go on to eliminate Spanish as the official language of Catalonia, and prominent members of the nationalist government "presume" of their limited command of Spanish (such as Clara Ponsatí, former head of education), or are signers of the Grup's manifesto Koiné against bilingualism and in favor of the unique language (like Laurá Borràs, the current consellera of culture). In the plans of intependentismo, the expulsion of the Spanish language will be progressive, and only those born before 1977 will have permission to use it when communicating with Catalan institutions. Spy on the dissenters. Returning to the papers intervened to ex Judge Vidal and related to the draft of the "Catalan constitution", it established the need to spy on opposing ideological forces, which were encompassed in the concept of "Violent Spanishism". Use the school to inculcate "spirit of belonging to the new country". Referenced also in the papers of Judge Vidal, although we only have to move to the reality of the current Catalonia to verify the scholar indoctrination, of which there are numerous reports and that is evidenced in textbooks authorized by the Generalitat. Use the mass media to strengthen national sentiment. It is also expressly stated in the roles of the judge vidal the partisan use of the media, although it is no novelty for anyone who knows the panorama of public television and radio in Catalonia, monolingual and totally politicized, from children's channels to musical channels. Grant pardons for "services to the country". For this point we must also refer to the laws called "disconnection", which allow "to free political representatives of their respective judicial processes for having committed an illegality." The text of the law is so broad that it allows to ignore any crime if the one who commits it is related to the government. In short, a panorama of restriction of liberties quite worrisome that the leaders of the "proces" sought to turn into reality at the heart of a democratic Europe that took for granted that it would welcome and recognize them as a country. Leer másPuigdemont would allow Catalonia to split into more countries
Last Wednesday, the former president of the Generalitat, Carles Puigdemont, participated in a colloquium organized at the University of Groningen (Holland), with a pro-independence approach, in which he was treated as "president" (as if he were active), all the rugged issues were avoided and full-color images were projected about the independence movement and in black and white images about the harshest reactions of the Spanish government. Throughout his speech the former secessionist leader left some of his usual incongruous phrases such as "I was one of the protagonists of a rebellion we did not commit", and stated that "the court refuses to call me as a witness when I would answer all the questions" , obviating that the court has accepted to call him, but to the bench of the defendants, that's the role that corresponds to him. However, one of the most relevant and significant phrases of the night was the one that the former president ruled when he stated that "No one would end up in jail for organizing a referendum for the independence of Barcelona, or Tarragona, in the framework of a Independent Catalonia. Each society has that right. Nothing is forever and each generation will do what they want." Surely that phrase will have raised blisters among its own party, since the Catalan nationalist movement is naturally armored in its territorial cohesion and expansionist in its aspirations (they have always denied the aspirations of the Aran Valley to leave Catalonia and refuse to accept Tabarnia (the union of Barcelona and Tarragona) as a reality that may exist outside of Catalonia, while claiming to annex Valencia, the Balearic Islands, part of Aragon and the south of France to its "Catalan Countries". The funny thing is that the claims from Tabarnia and the Aran Valley don't seek to create new borders, but simply to stay in Spain and Europe, and only separate from Catalonia in case that secessionism expel them from Spain and Europe, for what they want to to become new, different Spanish regions, but at any time they have used concepts such as "self-determination" or "own state". And the most interesting thing is that their aspirations are framed in the Spanish constitution and could be carried out. However, this phrase of Puigdemont has already revealed one of the greatest contradictions of all nationalisms. Within each territory susceptible to ask for a state of its own, there are also other territories capable of finding their own differences and also request the lifting of new frontiers. Leer másThe judge grants the accused independence fighters the right they deny to the Catalans
After years of expressing themselves in Spanish (language that the defendants speak perfectly) before every Spanish and foreign media that requested it, the defendants have demanded to address the Spanish judges exclusively in Catalan. This attitude is not new in the trials against defendant nationalists in Spain. Back in the time of the terrorist group ETA, the Basque separatists tried for acts of terrorism refused to express themselves in Spanish, despite being the majority language of the Basque country, and like the Catalan independence fighters, they questioned or denied the legitimacy of the court that judged them. In this way they show an attitude of disdain close to supremacism, because they consider themselves superior in dignity to the tribunal that judges them. They are the ones who are right, they are heroes for their followers, and it's the rest of the world that is wrong. The judges have had no problem admitting the request, recognizing "the emotional reasons for speaking in their own native language", a right that, paradoxically, the separatists systematically deny to the majority of Catalans, because according to the latest CEO's data (Catalan opinion poll), more than 55% of Catalans have Spanish as their native language compared to the 29% that have Catalan. It should be remembered that one of the first points of the Catalan independence movement is to eliminate Spanish as the official language of Catalonia, and that at present Catalan nationalism is imposing de facto Catalan as the only language in public signage, schools and official organisms, marginalizing the most spoken language in Catalonia. This causes anomalous situations such as many shops having their internal signs in Spanish (because this is the language of their customers) and the external signs in Catalan to avoid the strong linguistic fines. Leer másThe director of 'Dos Cataluñas' returns a prize for being delivered by Puigdemont
A few months ago, the Netflix platform premiered the documentary "Dos Cataluñas", about the conflict that has divided Catalan society. The film by Gerardo Olivares and Álvaro Longoria has risen in Berlin with the prize of the foundation "Cinema for Peace", which rewards initiatives of peaceful content. When it was communicated to the directors that Puigdemont had planned to attend the delivery in Berlin, the director Gerardo Olivares decided not to attend, despite being promised that the fled ex-president would not intervene. However, his co-director, Álvaro Longoria, did attend to collect the prize. And what was his surprise when it was the very Carles Puigdemont who came to hand the prize over, taking advantage of the moment to give a markedly political speech, dressed with the usual terminology about "political prisoners" and "exiles". According to Longoria, he felt manipulated, and such was his surprise that he was not able to pay attention to Puigdemont's words, which he heard later. Once they could think with a cool head, both directors have decided to return the prize to protest against the political use that has carried out the escaped ex-president. Netflix has transferred all their support to the directors, which both have been grateful for. Leer másVice-president of the EC: 'In Spain there's no discrimination for Political Ideas'
Faced with the accusations of Catalan nationalism that the leaders of the "Procés" are being judged in Spain for their ideas, the Vice President of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, has stated that in Spain "there is no discrimination of treatment for political ideas," according to Europa Press. This new support from the European Commission joins the rest of the statements in defense of the impartiality of the Spanish justice system that has made, once again, the level of democracy in Spain to obtain the qualification of "full democracy" (expression that Timmermans has emphasized) in all international rankings. The vice president of the European Commission has stressed that all citizens have the same rights "including questioning the constitution and wanting to change it", but "what they can't do is ignore it or violate it", referring to the next trial of the nationalist leaders for the coup attempt, and has notified that this is the official position of the European Commission regarding respect for the law. The trial of the leaders of the "procés" promises to be a media event with a great international coverage and that will last for months, something that catalan nationalism wants to take advantage of in order to internationalize its cause, but which also means that the whole world can know aspects of the uprising that the propaganda machinery has not divulged internationally, such as the anti-democratic conditions in which the illegal referendum of October 1 was raised, the violation of the rights of the unionist parliamentary opposition on September 6 and 7, 2017 or the elimination of the separation of powers in the "disconnection laws" that granted plenipotentiary powers to the president of the Generalitat, who at the time was Carles Puigdemont. A series of facts that can make international actors who still show sympathy for the supposedly oppressed nationalists to come to the conclusion that they have been deceived. Leer másGuaidó and Puigdemont. Two ways to rebel
Two leaders In the present landscape of oppression and freedom, two leaders stand out for their way of confronting a state they call an oppressor. Juan Guaidó, self-proclaimed president of the Venezuelan Republic, and Carles Puigdemont, self-proclaimed president of the "Catalan Republic" trying to separate Spain from the kingdom. We compare the actions and circumstances of both characters so that each one sheds light on the other. An oppressive nation Venezuela is qualified as an authoritarian regime in all democratic rankings, including the EIU Democracy Index of 2018. Spain is qualified as Full Democracy in the EIU Democracy Index of 2018, above countries such as France or Belgium. Democratic deficit In Venezuela, clean elections have not been held for a long time, and those held are not recognized by the opposition. The Judges receive pressures and threats from the Maduro regime. The forces of order, the military and public institutions silence and persecute the opposition, even with violence. The demonstrations in favor of the uprising are sabotaged and repressed. In Catalonia, three regional elections have been held in five years, all accepted by all parties, and in none has nationalism won in votes. The impartiality of the judges is such that they have caused the previous government of Spain to fall by denouncing their cases of corruption, which led to a motion of censure. However, in Catalonia, judges and prosecutors receive pressures and threats from the CDR (independent cells in favor of the uprising that have the express support of the current nationalist president of Catalonia). Journalists not related to the uprising are insulted and assaulted. The demonstrations against the uprising are sabotaged and repressed. An oppressed people Venezuelan citizens know the misery, and the shortage of food, with hyperinflation and extreme levels of poverty, which is accused of mismanagement of the Maduro regime. Catalonia is one of the most prosperous regions of Spain, has one of the main European capitals and enjoys a per capita income above the national average. Despite being a fully bilingual region, the Catalan language (the second in number of speakers behind Spanish) is the language of imposition of the nationalist government. This is the main oppression suffered by the non-nationalist part of the Catalan people. Partial and subsidized media The Venezuelan public media are politicized against the uprising and in favor of the Venezuelan government. The Catalan public media are politicized in favor of the uprising and against the government of Spain. Forces behind the uprising The Asamblea Nacional de Venezuela is the legislative organ of the Venezuelan government with members elected by the Venezuelan people. The Maduro regime has cornered it to create the ANC, the Asamblea Nacional Constituyente, which fully supports him. In Catalonia there is also an ANC, the Assamblea Nacional Catalana. As the Venezuelan, ANC is a constituent institution detached from the government, with members not elected by the Catalan people, but generously subsidized by the nationalist government and in charge of the mobilization of nationalism. Coup Maduro was democratically elected after being "chosen by finger" by Hugo Chaves, but was consolidated in power through a unilateral referendum ("la constituyente") rejected by the opposition and by international organizations. Guaidó was democratically elected president of the Asamblea Nacional de Venezuela, annulled by Maduro. Guaidó denies the legitimacy of "La Constituyente" and demands clean elections. When he does not obtain them, he rises against Maduro, goes down to the streets and proclaims himself "president in charge" of the Venezuelan Republic, until the celebration of fair elections. Artur Mas was democratically elected, but without a sufficient majority, so to overcome the veto of a small party of the far left, he "choose at finger" Carles Puigdemont. He raises the secession of Catalonia in a unilateral referendum ("1 d'Octubre") rejected by all the opposition and by all international organizations consulted. Days later, Puigdemont rejected the offer of the government of Spain to call democratic elections, reaffirms the legitimacy of "1 d'Octubre" and proclaimed president of the Catalan Republic. After the proclamation Juan Guaidó decides to stay in Venezuela, hiding in flats whose location is secret. Despite the immediate persecution of Maduro's government, he occasionally goes out into to the streets to make statements and gives interviews to foreign media, with great risk to his safety. Carles Puigdemont launches his escape plan, warns a few of his relatives and moves to Gerona, where he walks among his faithful. From the government of Spain its proclamation is stopped by article 155 of the constitution and free and democratic elections are called, and from the government Puigdemont is invited to appear. Instead, Puigdemont and his relatives flee from Spain. Puigdemont settles in Waterloo, in a luxurious villa of 500 m2 and 1000 m2 of garden that costs 4400 € per month. The life of the fugitive The Maduro regime immediately blocks Guairó's accounts, leaving him without financial resources. Disabled from all charges, he is hiding. Puigdemont, being fled, continues to receive from Spain his salary as President, almost double that the one of the president of Spain himself. Despite having been initiated a judicial process for the uprising, he continues collecting his salary as a representative of the Spanish state in Catalonia for months, and is allowed to stand for the next democratic elections. Family at risk The family of Guaidó is watched over by the Maduro regime. His wife is, like him, hidden. The Ibero-American Human Rights Committee calls for security for Juan Guaidó's family. They fear reprisals. The family of Puigdemont lives normally. Puigdemont's wife is still in Catalonia, where she has been hired by the nationalist television and charges € 6000 a month for presenting a weekly program that she records at a local in Barcelona. As in any democratic country, nobody will persecute her for the crimes of her husband. International recognition In a matter of days, the presidency of Guaidó has been recognized by many Ibero-American countries, by the government of the United States and its recognition by several European countries is imminent. More than a year after the attempted coup, the presidency of Puigdemont has not yet been recognized by any government or organization in the world. The only world leader who has shown his sympathy for the cause (and has been photographed with a starred flag) has been Nicolás Maduro. Future ? Leer másV centenary of the 'Universal Catalan Empire'
The Institut Nova Historia (the nationalist state structure dedicated to "restoring the true history of Catalonia") is currently celebrating the fifth centenary of the "Universal Catalan Empire". Basing a story that would make the best historians of the world blush with shame (the British historian Henry Kamen has sometimes denounced the distortion of history by Catalan institutions), the Institut Nova Historia preaches and commemorates it in this calendar that promote on its website. If the Institut Nova Historia is to the historiography what the Saturday Night Live on the television grill, Jordi Bilbeny would be the Eddie Murphy of the institution, his greatest comedian, able to sign articles like this without blushing, attributing to that fictional "Universal Catalan Empire" not only the merits of the Crown of Aragon, but also those of Castile and, of course, the rest of Spain. This new concept is another milestone, this time very difficult to overcome, from the creators of "Colón, Leonardo Da Vinci and Cervantes were Catalans", "Don Quixote was written in Catalan" or "Francis Drake was probably Catalan". The fashion of catalanizing everything is not new, but it has reached its maximum splendor with the "procés", with allegations such as the one made by collaborator of TV3, Quico Sallés, stating that the tradition of Halloween is Catalan, and that it was already practiced in the flats of Vic , from where it jumped to Ireland and later to the United States. But if we have to refer to someone accustomed to reciting this type of historiography-fiction without letting out a smile, we will be talking about Victor Cucurull, a character whose interventions are youtube flesh because of the hilariousness of his conclusions. Although the really surprising in all these cases is the seriousness with which some of the followers of this institution receive each of these news, and also the fact that broadcasters like Cucurull are always close to the leaders of the "procés" (the cameras recently showed Quim Torra in the company of Cucurull in Montserrat during his fasting in solidarity with the politicians imprisoned for the attempted coup d'état). Anyway, even the pro-independence sometimes have to smile skeptically (this is evident by comments at the foot of the articles of Bilbeny) reading the occurrences of an institution that is paid with the money of all Catalans and encourages a fake epic and glorious past, like so many fascist regimes did before. Leer másPersecution in Catalonia against those who resist totalitarianism
The regional government of Catalonia has decided that the Catalans who clean the streets of separatist symbols are a danger that must be eradicated. These groups have been formed over the last year as a result of the attacks received by Catalans who, individually, removed the ties or cleaned the independentist graffiti with which the secessionist movement occupied its streets. The so-called "GDR" (groups of resistance) act at night to clean painted symbols, remove ties and take down propaganda posters with which the separatist groups, protected by the regional president, the far-right Quim Torra, flood public places. Given the continued growth of these groups, the Generalitat (the regional government) has launched a double campaign of persecution and discrediting these cleaning groups. - Campaign 1. Active persecution: The body of Mossos d'Esquadra (the regional police, criticized for acting as political police of the separatist regime) have placed one of their commanders at the head of the persecution of those who remove ties and graffiti, obviating that they are not committing any crime and that they are the ones who invade the streets with political symbols who break the law. One example among many: Recently a sub-inspector of the Mossos de Girona has identified a woman in the street for saying "Viva España". - Campaign 2: Media discrediting: The regional television TV3 broadcasts communiqués in different programs, qualifying the neighborhood cleaning groups as "paramilitary forces". Ironically, the independence movement does have a series of paramilitary cells, the self-proclaimed CDR ("Committees of Defense of the Republic", although many people call them "Comandos de Represión"), whose only function is to restrict the freedom of expression of opponents using violence if necessary. This phase is being carried out in the news programs, as well as in programs such as "Tot es mou" (everything moves), in which a senior government official is the one who qualifies the clening groups as "paramilitary". This drift is highly dangerous and a consequence of the irresponsibility of radicalized regional leaders who for years have been demanding "dialogue" in terms that could not be accepted by the previous government of Spain, and that now that the current government accepts them, they continue to refuse, which makes it clear that there was never a real pretense to dialogue. Possibly the citizens of Catalonia and the rest of Spain would never have imagined that the leaders in charge of managing a prosperous region would push their people to a fascist and totalitarian drift in which, thanks to the control of the Catalan media that relate exclusively his version, it seems they are winning the first of the battles, the battle of words over reality. Leer másThe uprising against Maduro seen from Catalonia
This January 23, the oppositor Juan Guaidó has proclaimed himself "president in charge" of Venezuela, challenging Nicolás Maduro on the anniversary of the fall of the Marcos Pérez Jiménez dictatorship. It's still happening. People who fill the streets of Venezuela against the Maduro regime, because they have almost nothing to lose. An authoritarian regime (so it is qualified in the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) Democracy Index of 2018) under the wrapping of a republic, but with a leader who has manipulated a referendum to perpetuate himself in power and who exerts a by-the-book populism, identifying his cause with that of "the people" and always blaming external actors for all the pain suffered by their governed. Several South American countries have already recognized Guaidó, although Donald Trump, the president of the United States, has been his most relevant recognition. Europe encourages new elections, without expressly supporting the self-proclaimed president.. From our country, Spain, some politicians have already positioned themselves. Albert Rivera, leader of Ciudadanos, urges Pedro Sánchez to recognize the change of government, while Pablo Iglesias, leader of Podemos, speaks of coup d'état. It's, without a doubt, a coup d'état, an uprising, although one carried out by desperate citizens against an oppressive regime whose disguise of victimhood and democracy has already been broken at the seams. And it is not necessary to refer to that photo of Maduro exhibiting a starred flag to make comparisons between the Venezuelan and Catalan situation. Because the description of the leader put to finger (Chaves gave way to Maduro as Pujol to Mas, Mas to Puigdemont and the latter to Torra) that carries out a false referendum on the margin of the rest of forces, controlled and manipulated by the ruling power (the "constituyente" of Maduro as the "1-O" of Puigdemont) and twists the laws is something that we already have seen here. But there are still more similarities. Those forces (military in the case of Maduro, and quasi-paramilitary in the case of Torra) that threaten and intimidate opponents, point their families and attack free journalists is something that, in different intensities, both peoples experience . A populism of accusing finger, of perpetual anger, because if the anger goes numb, people think. And when thinking, a person stops following that "people" of unique purpose and begins to question things. And now the differences come. Maduro has no one above him to enforce the law and respect democracy. That is why the prospects for Venezuela are obscure, because the Venezuelan president has in his hands an army to use against his own people. Unless the military estates (or part of them) are on the side of the people (not the "people"), a civil war is looming, something that luckily in Catalonia does not go beyond civil conflict. Another difference is Venezuelans are experiencing misery. Nothing to do with the heartrending proposals of the "exiles" of the procés, any of whom lives better than an average Catalan. Nothing to do with the "suffering of the Catalan people" for which the best paid politicians in Spain claim. Venezuelans go hungry for real, without medical checks or Biomanán shakes. They do fill the streets, because in their houses they have nothing left. That is a revolution of "now or never", not Friday afternoon because on Saturday the snow is of good quality. And still more differences: Venezuela, as I have said, is listed as "authoritarian regime", while Spain is listed as "Full Democracy" (the fifth best in Europe). And Venezuela already has a good handful of international recognitions. The coup d'état attempted by catalan nationalism, never had any. Hopefully the situation in Venezuela has the least bad ending. I hope Maduro ends up talking about "political prisoners" and "exiles" in the first person. Or as a minor evil, that this uprising is quelled briefly, quickly and unfairly. Because the alternative is a civil war in Venezuela. And that is wished to no one. Not even to those who dream of it. Leer másPuigdemont asks the Constitutional to defend him from the independentists
The expresident fugitive of the Generalitat, Carles Puigdemont, has requested the protection of the Spanish Constitutional Court, accusing the Bureau of the parliament of having violated their political rights. Puigdemont denounces the decision taken by this commitee and enunciated by the president of the table of the parliament, Roger Torrent, on October 9 by which suspended deputies could not delegate their vote. The confrontation between Esquerra Republicana and the various factions of the PDECAT is such that Puigdemont prefers to request the protection of a Tribunal that he declares undemocratic, which he promised not to obey, and whose laws he has systematically broken, to protect him from his government partners. It's a new peak in the fratricidal struggle between the independence forces for the hegemony of the movement. Leer másThe perfect campaign of TV3 and the CDR
Given the proximity of the electoral campaign for municipal and European elections, TV3 (Catalonia public TV) and the CDRs (autonomous street forces) have become the two pillars of an electoral campaign that could be defined as perfect. Of course, only from a totalitarian perspective and outside the parameters of democracy. On the one hand, the public television of Catalonia continues with its messages unequivocally favorable to secession, and with its particular language (the autonomous community is "the country", the pro-independence people are "the people", the constitutionalists are "far-right ultras" and the CDRs, simply "the young Catalans") that seems conceived to create a unique and indisputable state of opinion. And on the other hand, the CDRs act as "repression commandos", dismantling stands (last week the VOX stands, this one the Ciudadanos stands), threatening and assaulting the participants of the opposition parties to the secessionist ideology, which they call "fascists" and qualify as "far right", curiously the same qualifying that Europe applies to the secessionist president QuimTorra and the nationalist forces that give him support in Europe. The circle closes when the spokesmen of the cells of the CDR are interviewed on TV3 and street violence is bleached before the media or excused by the alibi of the suffering of "exiles" (politicians who allegedly committed a crime whose consequences were repeatedly warned and that they fled so as not to face the consequences of their actions) and "political prisoners" (politicians who did face the consequences of their actions but are in provisional detention because of the evident flight risk that their escaped comrades have demonstrated). It is thus intended to excite the emotional response of an electorate that can no longer be accessed with the arguments of reason ("we will be more prosperous, companies will not flee, Europe will support us ...") that have already been dismantled one by one to throughout these seven years of "procés". This perfect circle empowers the voice of a part of the population with public means while silencing the dissenting voices through intimidation. It is, by all accounts, the dream campaign ... although not by a democrat. Leer másArrested a nephew of Quim Torra for public disorder of the CDR
Quim Torra did not joke about his family when he said that practically "everyone is signed up for a CDR". The President's nephew, Ernest Morell Torra, has been arrested along with fifteen other activists for breaking into the ADIF facilities, occupying the roads of the Girona AVE (High-speed train) and stopping the traffic of the town, causing delays to many users as part of the actions of the CDRs. Ernest Morell is affiliated with the CUP, the most radical party of the independence coalition, which in a tweet defines its affiliate as "Cupaire, Ratafiaire (in allusion to the alcoholic beverage that the president promotes) and much more." The arrest took place this Wednesday early in the afternoon, although the president's nephew has been released on charges shortly after. The CUP has demanded "the release of Ernest, kidnapped by the regime" despite the fact that he was only taken to the police station and allowed to leave without further ado. It is known that Quim Torra has directly and explicitly encouraged the CDRs to persist in their actions, even after their violent and illegal behavior is proven, so it's to be expected that their political opponents will not miss the opportunity to ask for explanations for the conduct of these groups that do not respond to any authority. Leer másParents of students stop indoctrination at a school in Barcelona
The parents of the students of the Provençals center in Barcelona have said "enough". As reported by the blog "Dolça Catalunya", this time the excuse of a part of the teaching staff to indoctrinate their students has been a theater activity whose text claims without dissimulation for the abolition of the monarchy and the holding of a referendum to create a republic, since "we can do it" because "we are not in any country in southwestern Europe." In addition, "we must be careful because referendum is a word forbidden by the evil king". Evidently the happy ending closes with a "Long life to the Republic". The difference between this indoctrination maneuver and all the preceding examples is that on this occasion the parents' complaints have been the force that has forced the school to rectify and withdraw the text, aware that the political manipulation of the text was too obvious . The center's statement acknowledges that "the content is inadequate" and affirms that they remain "apart from any ideology" and that they work "with respect to all families." Increasingly, many parents of Catalan students raise their voices demanding an ideology-free education for their children, a demand that is added to others such as freedom of choice of language and, not least, the end of educational barracks. Leer másSelf-proclaimed 'Antifascists' attack freedom of expression
Since the beginning of the spanish campaign for the municipal and European elections, the independentist groups calling themselves "Antifascists" do not rest in their actions to restrict the freedom of expression of all those forces that are not pro-independence. Their most systematic attacks are towards the VOX formation, which they describe as Fascist. These actions, perfectly coordinated, pursue each tent or stand of the green formation, which surround and isolate, preventing their freedom of expression, while they intimidate their occupants and throw objects at them. Although the VOX party can be framed on the far right, the truth is that the totalitarian actions and denial of the most basic civil rights are those carried out by these groups linked to the independence movement, such as Arràn or the CDR, which in many cases share members. Thus, the current weapons of the former "Gent de pau" (people of peace) include threats, intimidation (big hanged dolls in street bridges), attacks on freedom of expression, boycott of peaceful demonstrations (such as that of linguistic freedom), sabotage of infrastructures or street violence. Actions carried out indiscriminately against the tents and headquarters of Ciudadanos, PSC, PP or VOX, and that seriously question the denomination of "antifascist" of these radical groups. If at any time of the year these actions are reprehensible (apart from manifestly illegal) their severity is multiplied in this pre-electoral period, since in fact they are denying the right to express themselves to all those political forces that are not secessionists, which means in practice the systematic denial of democracy. Leer másRTVE will double the hours of emission in Catalan
That has been the decision adopted by RTVE, announced this Wednesday by the agency's administrator, Rosa María Mateo. In this new stage, most of the new programming will be broadcasted through La 2, and its objective is to combine both Catalan and Spanish languages in public television as it happens in the street. This position contrasts with that adopted by the Corporació Catalana de Mitjans Audiovisuals, which includes channels such as TV3 and broadcasters such as Catalunya Radio and which has always excluded the Spanish language in its media offer, with Catalan as the only allowed language. Advance or reverse? Although there are those who see this movement as another cession of Pedro Sanchez's executive to nationalism and a setback in Spanish broadcasts, it can also be understood as a non-ideological alternative to TV3 broadcasts, (which currently has an evident ideological position) which would offer an alternative with audiovisual content in Catalan without secessionist messages, something that is almost unprecedented at the present time. On the other hand, RTVE offering that alternative to TV3 could also be understood as a confirmation that it is impossible to depoliticize Catalan public television, at least in the short term. Leer másSpain: The fifth best democracy in the G-20
The Economist has published The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) Democracy Index of 2018. Spain remains qualified as "Full Democracy", consolidating itself as the fifth most democratic country in the European Union, above France, Italy and above Belgium, the country that gives shelter to politicians fled by the attempted coup d'etat. Spain is also above countries such as the United States. In fact, this report does nothing more than ratify other recent reports from international organizations that show that the level of freedom enjoyed in our country is among the best, tainted only by the serious anomalies originating in the Catalan independence movement. The freedom that is allowed in Spain is, paradoxically, part of the reason that allows the destabilizing forces to abuse their autonomy, defending secessionist postulates that in other countries of Europe would be severely repressed or, as in Germany, directly illegal. Curiously, most of these full democracies are monarchies, while the republics that serve as an example to some of the populist forces, such as Cuba or Venezuela, are classified as authoritarian regimes. Leer másPuigdemont, obsessed with the idea that someone may attempt against his life
The expresident escaped to Belgium begins to show disturbing signs of paranoia. He is convinced that the "evil" Spanish state wants to attempt against his life. This becomes clear from the testimonies of some agents assigned to his protection, as published by Salvador Sostres in the newspaper ABC. Apparently, Puigdemont has made his bodyguards taste the foods with his fans have given him, and agents in charge of his security have revealed that the comments that Puigdemont has gained some weight are due to the fact that lately the expresident escaped does not leave the house of Waterloo without wearing a bulletproof vest, something that is causing his most immediate circle to refer to the palace as the "Maniac Mansion". The conjunction of this excessive paranoia with the outbursts of his lieutenant Quim Torra is causing a notable part of the PDECAT to feel uncomfortable with its leaders and seek more possibilist positions, as well as candidates like Elsa Artadi to running from the autonomic scope and taking refuge in the municipal. Leer másIndependence activists kidnap baby Jesus on the eve of the wise men
It has happened in the Castellón crib. The figure of the child Jesus has been kidnapped from the nativity scene of the town. The act has been claimed by the self-proclaimed "Antifascist Brigades" and the condition they demand for the return is the immediate release of the politics imprisoned for the attempted coup d'etat. The figure of the child Jesus was replaced by the town hall. But the substitute child Jesus also disappeared, leaving a yellow ribbon in its place. A progressive radicalization is observed in the most recent actions of the separatism, adding these simulated kidnappings to the occupation of public space, the restriction of the freedoms of the dissenters and the simulated executions, such as those that took place recently in Besalú. All actions are clearly totalitarian and undemocratic, although those who carry them out insist on calling themselves "anti-fascists". In addition, these actions already extend outside of Catalonia and include the territories that the secessionists wish to annex, such as Valencia, the Balearic Islands, the Aragon strip or the south of France. Leer másPuigdemont will not go to work until he gets ten million Euros
Carles Puigdemont doesn't plan to go to work until his faithful pay him ten million Euros. This is what emerges from the statements of the independence leader, who said this week that he'll only activate the "Council for the republic" when it has 1,000,000 registered. Since its required a 10 € payment in order to register, the numbers are easy to make. Puigdemont has the office in his house but he is not going to move a finger until he gets his ten millions. Leer másQuim Torra encourages taking the 'slovenian way' that caused hundreds of deaths and injuries
The president of the Generalitat, Quim Torra, has affirmed this weekend up to twice that the "people of Catalonia" (for the independentists) should "self-determine" following the Slovenian way. It is worth remembering that a referendum was held in Slovenia that had 95% of votes in favor of independence, (in Catalonia it has never reached 50%) and independence was declared unilaterally, which initially was not recognized by anyone and that led to an armed conflict with hundreds of deaths and injuries. Leer másNow it's possible to put virtual yellow loops in things
The independence movement is marked somewhat with the appearance of the CrowdUp Mobile Application. This app allows you to put virtual yellow ties in any building in the city, which will be visible to users of the App. The nationalists are very happy, because if they walk looking through the mobile, their virtual republic is already a reality, they do not contaminate with plastics and can express themselves fully without bothering anyone. Leer másTreasurer of the CDR of Vilafranca del Penedés runs away with the money
The treasurer of the CDR of Vilafranca del Penedés has escaped this weekend with the money from the box where the independentists made contributions for the imprisoned politicians. The treasurer, known only as "Nuria", is missing, but has made it clear that the stolen money is not for her, but for Artur Mas. The head of the CDR cell has said that it will not happen again and encourages people for further contribution. TV3 and the rest of the pro-independence mass media has made no stetements about the fact. Artur Mas has not made any statements, either. Leer másIndependentists maneuver for control of the media
The Catalunya i Futur platform has elaborated a document of conclusions and proposals for debate called "the means of communication that Catalonia needs". In the aforementioned document the points destined to enhance the supremacy of Catalan are exposed to the detriment of Spanish, the most widely spoken language in Catalonia. Some of the points discussed are: - The control of the radioelectric space in Catalonia, including the internet and social networks. - Control of the internet and social networks. - Fight against Spanish broadcasts of AtresMedia and Mediaset. - The introduction of a tax or "Rate" to finance the "Catalan culture". - Promote the broadcast of TV3 in the territories claimed by secessionism, such as the Balearic Islands, the Valencian Community and the south of France. The "Catalunya y Futur" platform is almost entirely made up of recognized independents, with only one person who has not been clearly defined. Leer másThe 'Consell de la República' could take three years to activate
On October 30, 2018, Puigdemont telematically presented the "Consell de la República" (Council of the Republic), a political device that would perform the functions of a parliament abroad, only with nationalist personalities instead of elected representatives. Puigdemont said a month ago that the "Consell" would be activated as soon as it had one million registered, and the registration fee was set at 10€, so the Consell would have ten million euros to start. The problem that the fled expresident has is that a month has already elapsed, and until now only 26000 people have registered. If the current registration rhythm has to be maintained, which is quite unlikely, the "consell" would gather its ten million euros and begin to function not before January 2022. It's easy to conclude that Puigdemont needs to change its expectations, or its project has already failed. Leer más |
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