Duros editoriales de la prensa extranjera contra España por
el problema catalán, o mejor dicho contra Rajoy y el juez Llarena. The Times y
Le Monde se destacan por su dureza. De manera que, por mucho que cueste,
Puigdemont ha logrado internacionalizar el caso de Catalunya.
Spain Again
Since
October of last year, the Spanish government has consistently handled the
thorny issue of Catalonian separatism with recklessness, heavy handedness and
an apparent desire to make a difficult situation far worse. Late last week, a
judge in Spain’s supreme court issued international
arrest warrants for six fugitive Catalan leaders who have been charged with
rebellion. Yesterday, the erstwhile Catalan president Carles Puigdemont was
arrested in Germany. If he is extradited, as seems likely, he could face up to
30 years in prison.
Mr
Puigdemont fled Spain in October after declaring Catalan independence. During
the referendum that narrowly preceded this somewhat grandiose act, Spanish riot
police were deployed, seizing ballot boxes and shooting Catalans of all ages
with rubber bullets. Hundreds were hospitalised. That referendum had been
illegal under the Spanish constitution, and a court had ordered police to
prevent it. The defence of Spanish unity, even so, was not well served by
images of dissenters under attack at the polls, and nor by what happened next.
Within days, 13 Catalan politicians were either in jail, on bail, or in exile.
The Catalan government was sacked and direct rule from Madrid was imposed. Mr
Puigdemont wound up in Belgium. A regional election in December could have
kick-started a process of reconciliation. Instead, a small majority for
pro-independence parties, coupled with a pro-Spanish party being the single
largest force led to further deadlock. Later that month, Judge Pablo Llarena of
the Spanish supreme court withdrew international arrest warrants for the
renegade former president and four of his colleagues.
On Friday,
they were reactivated, surprising Mr Puigdemont who was in Helsinki, visiting
the Finnish parliament. He is now detained in Germany. Having hoped to be
reinstated into office after December’s elections, Mr Puigdemont had
already found himself barred by a court from being invested as president in
absentia. In his place, he appointed Jordi Sànchez, a fellow independence
leader, only for the court to rule that Mr Sànchez, who was already in custody,
could not leave prison for investiture either. Jordi Turull, formerly Mr
Puigdemont’s chief of staff, emerged as the
next likely candidate earlier this month. On Friday, he was arrested.
The fact
that all these decisions have been made by judges rather than politicians makes
Madrid’s plan to frustrate separatists into
stasis no less obvious. Mariano Rajoy, Spain’s prime minister, has taken no real steps to comprehend why such a
significant proportion of Catalans hope for independence. Instead he has
adopted a pose of legalistic outrage, while Spanish police and courts have
pursued separatist figures with gusto. Twice, police have searched the private
jet of Pep Guardiola, the Spanish manager of Manchester City, apparently in
fear that it was being used to smuggle Mr Puigdemont back into the country.
Madrid has an existential fear of secessionism, not just in Catalonia but also
of the Basques. This is no excuse, however, for treating a peaceful, slightly
shambolic independence movement as though it were a dangerous rebel army.
Catalonian
independence is probably a bad idea, certainly against the interests of the
wider Spanish nation and very probably against the interests even of the region
itself. In an atmosphere of greater calm and less brinkmanship, it is perfectly
possible that a majority would shy away from the idea of independence in return
for mild concessions toward self-governance and a return to stability. In
seeking to portray strength, Mr Rajoy’s government instead looks panicky.
Worse, it is surrendering moral authority to a flippant political movement that
more often than not does not deserve it. Madrid needs to start speaking to its
opponents and stop seeking to put them in jail.
