So who are the fascists? The hundreds of thousands of citizens who turned out today to peacefully call for Catalan independence, or the Falange and Democracia Nacional supporters who interrupted an event in Madrid?
This is, at least partly, the fruit of the PP’s campaign against social coherence in Catalonia. A mendacious call for unity while sowing division is the PP’s strategy, backed up by their mates in C’s.
Terrible – like the constant assaults on PP & Ciutadans facilities and people which somehow escape your attention.
Just curious: will your employer stay in Barcelona once we’ve left the EU, or will you have to move to Zaragoza or – heaven forbid! – Madrid?
If you’ve got a link to anything even remotely similar happening at a PP or Ciutadans meeting, do share.
As to my employer, at least part of it is owned by a Swiss firm. And they seem to be doing OK. As you know very well, EU membership isn’t life and death. Trade will continue.
Google is God https://www.google.com/search?q=ataque+ciutadans
Trev – any incident of vandalism is unpleasant. But a bit of red paint on a party office’s windows is par for the course here. The CiU office in Cerdanyola gets the same treatment from time to time.
It’s nowhere near what happened in Madrid the other day, though. That involved violent assault and the use of a noxious chemical, along with the more traditional criminal damage. It’s disingenuous to link the two.
Meanwhile, the fascists are planning a trip to BCN for the día de hispanidad and the PP and Cs seem to be taking their time before discouraging them. Either that or, as I have long suspected, they take violence in the streets as an unfortunate necessity to indicate that Catalan society has ‘ruptured’, which has been their prime political goal for the last few years.
I believe the attack by a handful of street thugs on the Blanquerna event in Madrid is fairly insignificant. The real essence of fascism is being revealed in the heart of the institutions of the Spanish state.
1. The Spanish Constitution of 1978 states explicitly
“Section 127
Judges and magistrates as well as public prosecutors, whilst actively in office, may not hold other public office nor belong to political parties or unions.”
http://www.lamoncloa.gob.es/IDIOMAS/9/Espana/LeyFundamental/titulo_sexto.htm
No ambiguity or wriggle-room there. Yet Pérez de los Cobos, while a card-carrying member of the governing party, is allowed to hold office as President of the Constitutional Court. The fact that he concealed this party membership from Congress indicates clearly that he was aware of this inconstitutionality, but this does not prevent him from continuing to hold office as the highest justice in the state.
In 2007 the PP called for the expulsion (recusación) of justice Pablo Pérez Tremp from the Constitutional Court, for having drafted a report for the Generalitat of Catalunya. The words of the court on that occasion are worth repeating:
En aquella ocasión, el pleno del Tribunal Constitucional aprobó la recusación, pero la basó en la existencia de la mera duda sobre la imparcialidad de Pérez Tremps. “Ha de quedar fuera de toda consideración que (…) no se trata de juzgar si el magistrado recusado es efectivamente parcial o si él mismo se tiene por tal. Lo determinante es, exclusivamente, si una parte del proceso tiene motivo, sopesando racionalmente todas las circunstancias, para dudar de la falta de prevención y de la posición objetiva del magistrado”, afirmó el Constitucional entonces.
http://politica.elpais.com/politica/2013/09/17/actualidad/1379448441_449854.html
Then, in 2007, “una duda” was enough to invalidate a justice of the state. Now, 6 years later, the supreme justice of the state is allowed not only to be a member of the governing party but also to hold a directorship in a company, OIT, which consults on labour law while at the same time he rules on labour laws in Spain. The obvious conflicts of interest are allowed to pass, worryingly with the consent of 3 so-called “progressive” Constitutional Court justices.
This, if not actually a “golpe de estado”, is close enough to be accurately described as “un golpe al estado” and reveals a deep contempt for legitimacy within the same PP government which calls on Catalans to respect “la ley fundamental”.
http://ccaa.elpais.com/ccaa/2013/07/29/valencia/1375121736_901265.html
The presence of a PP member in the highest constitutional court in the Spanish State effectively releases all of us from any loyalty or obligation towards the Spanish legal system. Nothing more is to be expected from the corrupt Constitutional Court except rulings favouring the governing party line.
More “Fascism in Spain” points later…
Fascism takes many forms: the totalitarianism of the indoctrination (not education) system in Catalunia for one.
doctrine noun a belief or set of beliefs, especially political or religious ones, that are taught and accepted by a particular group
what you’ve just said fits perfectly the definition above. the belief that catalan children are indoctrinated in schools, taught by the propaganda machine of spanish nationalism, and accepted by spanish nationalists. it’s very ironic that you accuse others of indoctrinate when you show all signs of being indoctrinated yourself.
I approve of your use of the word doctrine, which is usually associated with a set of religious beliefs. The catalunian nationalism closely follows the structure of a religion, with it’s insistence on an fictional past, persecution of the true believers and victimism. Next year in Jerusalem, eh?
So that’s your whole opinion? That something resembles the structure of a religion can be said of every single human organization, from political parties, to corporations, to trade unions, to sports clubs, to anything that involves interaction between human beings. Try again when you have something that makes a little more sense.
Ernesto baby, read my comment again. I deliberately said “religion” as it depends heavily on sky fairies, fantasy, with a good dollop of victimism thrown in. The similarities with catalunian regionalism are stricking. Also the methods being used by the mediocre politicos to push this zero value added agnda have been seen before – Germany 1930s.
I will leave you with one thought: don’t confuse the edge of the rut you are in with your horizon. The best cure for nationalism is travel. 😉
Like I said, your comparison is meaningless. All these things that you mention (fairies, fantasy, victimism, methods from 1930 Germany) can be found in any ideology or political movement, including the ones that you support. So what does it tell us about Catalan regionalism? Damn all.
With regard to your advice, I have to say that I’m a little confused. Are you saying that I should travel more? That I’m diseased? That I’m a nationalist? Let me say that it sounds a little arrogant on your part. I don’t think you’re in a position to give lessons to people you don’t know, especially considering your simple-minded, cliché-ridden opinions you’ve posted so far.
PS. My name is not Ernesto and I’m not a baby.
Yes, I see it clearly now. A few paintball shots at the storefront of a Political party office in the middle of the night is directly comparable to a gang of skinheads storming into a building full of people, pushing them around and terrorizing them with threats and insults, then setting off tear gas as they storm out. Why didn’t I see that earlier.
The problem does not stop at the border and goes beyond just whether Spain will recognize Catalonia’s right to decide. As Spain’s government protects Franco’s former torturers and looks a blind eye at fascist groups in Spain, the European and world community turns a blind eye at Spain as well. When is someone going to have the balls to stand up in the EU or the UN and say it like it is. I just saw the face of a fascist torturer on The Guardian today. So is anything going to happen to him? Probably not. Spain’s government will protect him. What about the mass graves all over Spain? Nothing will be done about them. When is someone going to stand up in front of the world and shame Spain for these things? So its on the newspaper today, that’s a good start. This is about real life actual fascists, not just people we love to hate and call them fascists for effect. Unfortunately this involves the world because the world and its politicians are complicit by inaction.
So is anyone going to do something about it…probably not.
oops, sorry, lost this one. what we obviously need is an impartial observatory, composed of two opposed but reasonably plausible nerds who receive all reports, test their veracity, classify, and make the information and the derived score available
still lacking a database for this marvellous project, here’s one this morning http://www.cronicaglobal.com/es/notices/2013/10/agreden-a-dos-miembros-de-las-juventudes-del-psc-al-grito-de-independencia-1296.php
Yeah, I’ve been reading about this one. It’s a shame it wasn’t filmed as I’d be interested to see what actually happened (as I could with the Madrid one). Apparently, the PSC says that the attackers were ‘Independentists’ but that isn’t mentioned here, when the guy refers to them as ‘skins’: http://www.ara.cat/politica/Declaracions-membres-JSC-Corts-sofert_3_1010928898.html
The guy in that video refers to them as ‘feixistes’ and they apparently insulted them in Spanish. Which sounds odd for a bunch of ‘independentists’. Perhaps this is Aznar’s plan to ‘break Catalonia’ creaking into action? CNI, anyone? There are already some superficial links that should be looked into http://www.directe.cat/noticia/316453/el-cni-al-darrera-dels-grups-feixistes-que-van-atemptar-contra-la-delegacio-catalana-a-mad
And for balance, another paint ‘attack’ from around the Diada http://www.racocatala.cat/forums/fil/178465/atac-feixista-seu-derc-leixample-barcelona
There’s lots of nasty people out there. Why would I ever want to leave my nice padded cell?