Just before El Pilar in Sant Jaume

15Oct/073

On Thursday evening, the eve of the 'día de Hispanidad' holiday, Gemma and I passed through Plaça Sant Jaume, the location of both the Generalitat and the Ajuntament de Barcelona.

Spanish flag with some crazy motto about the king scrawled on it

A small demonstration was taking place, which involved lots of Spanish flags being waved, and the Spanish national anthem being played. A few Mossos (police) stood around, while passers-by sniggered at the slightly pathetic protest. And yes, there in the middle of the 30-strong throng was a banner from the insane 'Peones Negros' movement, who claim that Zapatero, ETA and the Police all plotted together to carry out the 11-M bombings in order to steal the election and destroy Spain. It's a compelling argument, until facts are brought up. Then again, you can prove anything with facts.

UPDATE: apparently, Los Peones Negros de Barcelona do this little demo on the 11th day of each month. They refer to it as the 'mesiversario' of the 11-M bombings which they claim were not carried out by al Qaeda. PPNNBCN also have a blog which you can read here. Check out the author's (or his team mate's) other blog (which covers more varied topics than just insane 11-M conspiracy theories). He's a bit of a fan of ultra-nationalist, neo-Nazi group 'Democracia Nacional'... and so, it all comes full circle!

The 'so utterly insane, they're almost fiunny' Peones Negros with their little banner

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Graeme
October 16th, 2007 - 14:33
I had a quick look at their blog, it seems they have now separated themesleves from the Peones Negros Libres, who in turn are a spinoff from the "official" Peones Negros. How long before we get the provisional Peones Negros? SPLITTERS!
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David
October 16th, 2007 - 19:40
The tragedy of it all is that we all seem to be wasting far too much time musing over what a bunch of spaced-out rightists will next get up to…
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Tom
October 17th, 2007 - 18:46
David – well, in a way you're right. However there is a definite current which links the Peones Negros with both neo-Nazi organisations and with more traditional conservative political parties in Spain. That's why it's worth taking a good look at what they're up to.
Example: the conspiracy theory behind the Peones Negros is clearly absurd. But it has been supported and promulgated by 'journalists' who also work for El COPE and El Mundo, two of the most popular sources of news in Spain.
Likewise, Graeme reported how on the anniversary of 11-M, Telemadrid (the PP controlled regional TV station) elected to broadcast a Peones Negros-inspired 'documentary'. Now I don't know whether Esperanza Aguirre buys this theory but I'll wager that she'd not be unhappy with the idea that just 1% of those who watched that documentary might have come away angry against the PSOE rather than the PP.
My point is that however crazy this particular group might be, their message often reaches a completely disproportionate number of ears. It's worth keeping an eye on them for that alone.
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