Catalonia: A historical insight into what led to the present crisis

Catalonia: A historical insight into what led to the present crisis

Eduardo Mendoza provides a different angle - a pragmatic non partisan approach - to what has led to present events in Spain and in Catalonia. The author, born in Barcelona in 1943, states in the book "Qué está pasando en Cataluña?"(What is happening in Catalonia?) deals with cetain historical assumptions that tend to distort perceptions of what is actually happening. He also deals with cultural aspects of Catalonia, immigration and how immigration has shaped up today's Catalonia and in end comes to the issue of independence of Catalonia.

Eduardo Mendoza clearly explains why he wrote what he wrote refering to those who are in favour of independence and those who are against independence:

"No lo he escrito para posicionarme en un bando o en otro. Personalmente, no me gusta ninguno de los dos, pero eso se puede atribuir a mi temperamento, a mis ideas y a mi experiencia personal. Lo he escrito para tratar de comprender lo que está pasando." (I haven't written it to take sides. Personally, I don't like neither, but this can attributed to my temperament, to my ideas and to my personal experience. I have written it to try to understand what is happening." 

Although I don't completely agree with some of the statements made by Eduardo Mendoza, the book provides a valuable analysis to deal with the complexities of the subject. When you deal with the history of Spain and of Catalonia nothing is black or white and over-simplication can lead to fundamental errors. Eduardo Mendoza states that although the Spanish Civil has something to do with what is happening today there are other more relevant factors dating from Post-Franco Spain. 

"Francisco Franco fue un criminal de guerra, un dictador y un político astuto y mediocre, pero su importancia histórica y su influencia han sido magnificadas." (Francisco Franco was a war criminal, a dictator and an astute and mediocre politician, but his political importance and his influence have been exaggerated.) By saying this, the author indicates that thinking that everything that happens today was due to the Civil War and Franco's regime is in itself an exaggeration. 

During the Civil War and after the Civil War, Catalonia was not a monolithical unit. Some Catalans sided with Franco and some Catalans sided with the Republic. Catalonia itself was divided across socio-economic classes. In principle, Catalonia didn't want independence. Catalonia wanted to recover its lost freedoms, an amnesty for those who had been incarcerated and those who had been forced to leave the country and the restoration of its autonomous government.

The book plublished by Seix Barral in 2017 is a brief, but right to the point analysis for those seeking to comprehend present realities of Catalonia and of Spain. 

It must be remembered that the book was published long before recent political events in Catalonia and in Spain under a Socialist Prime Minister that seems to have lost control. Excessive use of force and long jail sentences for elected representatives of the Catalonian people are reminders of the fact that repression is neither exclusively left wing or exclusively right wing. It happens under any ideology. What is shocking is that today it is happening in what is considered to be democratic Spain.

Whatever your views on Catalonian independence, widespread brutality is not the answer

Whatever your views on Catalonian independence, widespread brutality is not the answer

Fourteen year jail sentences for elected Catalonian representatives and widespread brutality is not something that should be happening in Spain and this is happening under a Socialist Spanish Prime Minister.

Condenas a 14 años de prisión para representantes electos Catalanes y brutalidad generalizada no es algo que debería estar ocurriendo en España y esto está pasando bajo un Primer Ministro socialista.

The scenes we see in Catalonia are the kind of scenes that we would usually see under the rule of totalitarian regime and not under democratic rule. The official position of the British government is "it is not our business". It is the business of the Spanish government'. This position is diametrically different when we talk about events happening in other countries where people are severely mistrated by the authorities.

Las escenas que vemos en Catalunia son el tipo de escenas que usualmente veriamos bajo el gobierno de un régimen totalitario y no bajo un gobierno democrático. La postura oficial del gobierno británico es 'no un tema que nos concierna'. Es un asunto que concierne el gobierno español. Esta postura es diametralmente diferente cuando hablamos sobre acontecimientos que ocurren en otros países en que la gente es severamente maltratada por las autoridades. 

Spain is an European Union member country and elected Catalonian MEPs are not allowed to sit in the newly elected European Parliament. One imagines that the European Union wants to build new understandings based on consensus but this is not consensus. This is purely and simply repression.

España es país miembro de la Unión Europea y a MEPs catalanes no se les permite integrarse al Parlamento Europeo recientemente electo. Uno imagina que la Unión Europea desea generar nuevos entendimientos basados en consenso pero esto no es consenso. Esto es lisa y llanamente represión.

Even for those who are highly criticial with regards to the actions of the pro-independence movement, the way fellow Spaniards are treated should be a reason to be extremely concerned. When looking for examples of brutality, ordinary Spaniards are usually told about the Guerra Civil (Spanish Civil War) and what happened soonafter the Guerra Civil but in this particular case this is happening under a Socialist government.

Inclusive para aquellos critican severamente las acciones del movimiento pro-independencia, la manera en que compatriotas españoles son tratados debería ser una razón para estar extremadamente preocupados. Cuando recordamos ejemplos de brutalidad, a los españoles se les habla sobre l.a Guerra Civil Española y lo que ocurrió después de la Guerra Civil Española pero en este caso particular esto está ocurriendo bajo un gobierno socialista.  

For Catalonian seeking to escape, there is no safety across national borders. In the days of General Franco, they could go to France like many did including a famous and celebrated poet idealized by Joan Manuel Serrat. With the existence of the so called European Arrest Warrant, for political reasons Catalonians are being arrested and sent back to Spain where they face an uncertain future.

Para los catalanes que quieren escapar, no hay sitios seguros al otro lado de las fronteras nacionales. En los días del General Franco, podían ir a Francia como muchos fueron incluído un famoso y celebrado poeta idealizado por Joan Manuel Serrat. Con la existencia del denominado European Arrest Warrant, por razones políticas los catalanes están siendo arrestados y enviados a España donde afrontan un futuro incierto. 

Until Brexit is completed, there will be no deal

Until Brexit is completed, there will be no deal

A quick look at what is happening in the main EU countries is more than enough to understand that the EU is in no position to negotiate anything. If anything, the EU has to devote all its energies to prevent a meltdown that would lead to the extinction of the EU.

In France, President Macron doesn't seem to be getting things done. It looks like a growing crisis that threaten the very foundation of democracy in France. Showering French citizens with tear gas and water cannons, and engaged in unwarranted acts of violence, Police forces that follow President Macron's orders are turning France into a battlefield. 

In Germany, the sheer idea of having to go cap in hand to ask German taxpayers for more money to subsidise failing economies is a sobering thought for ailing Angela Merkel that knows that she is being watched from inside and from outside the CDU/CSU. She is no longer leader of the ruling coalition very much like Theresa May is no longer leader of the Conservative Party and is very much yesterday's Chancellor.

Events in Austria, Poland, Hungary, Italy and elsewhere are not reassuring either. In Spain, recently elected Members of the European Parliament are not being allowed to join the European Parliament because of the struggle for independence in Catalonia. 

Contenders in the leadership election in the Conservative Party or those in opposition can talk about a deal but it is a deal that no longer exists. It was killed by Parliament and led to the downfall of Theresa May. Most of the world deals with WTO terms and has been doing so for a very long time. The issue is the survival of a protectionist club called European Union (before European Community, earlier Common Market) that almost single-handed led to a debacle across the Developing World when over-production and subsidies caused a dramatic fall of agricultural prices and the creation of massive foreign debt in countries that very much depend on agriculture to make ends meet.

Delivering Brexit is a sine qua non for the Conservative Party. They know that they either deliver Brexit or are replaced by the Brexit Party under a Marxist Prime Minister. This has enormous implications for Britain and for international equilibrium. Whatever is left of the |Special Relationship could come to an end. This is not just the crisis regarding Huawei. This is Huawei and everything else including Britain's membership of NATO.

Britain should seek to preserve the Conservative government by getting Brexit done as a way to prevent a major geopolitical catastrophe.

Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy made possible Catalunya's Independence.

Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy made possible Catalunya's Independence. Repression against Catalans pushed even those who were against Independence to support Independence. Time is long overdue for the Spanish Prime Minister to resign.

EU: Deafening Silence concerning Spanish abuses

EU's Deafening Silence

When something happens in Venezuela or Burma (I call it Burma, not the fancy name Myanmar), politicians are all too quick to react and to interfere in internal matters. When the country involved in abuses is an EU country, there is a deafening silence. People beaten on the streets, elected representatives arrested and threat of direct rule doing away with Democracy... just a list of niceties for which the Spanish government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is directly responsible, contradicting the view that "65 per cent of Catalans want to remain as part of the Spain". You could say that Mariano Rajoy himself contradicts such view because he panicked and resorted to violence instead of allowing the Referendum to happen normally to prove his point of view. Spain went several decades backwards. Judging by the number of Latin American people fleeing Spain and trying to settle down in Britain, those who are desperately trying to keep the United Kingdom in the European Union are shooting themselves on the foot because reality goes against their assertions about prosperity. What prosperity? Spain has been in doldrums for quite a while to the point that no political party has been able to gather enough votes to form a majority government and for quite a while Spain was de-facto without a real government.

I wonder what the reaction of the British mass media, the European mass media or the world mass media would have been if Nicola Sturgeon and the leaders of the Scottish Pro-Independence Movement and/or the people of Scotland had been treated in the same manner the people of Catalonia and its elected representatives have been treated. The European Union has just brushed Spanish violations of human rights and of political rights under the carpet.

In the EU, nothing is final. The fact that Austria, Poland and Hungary were taken to court when they asserted their sovereign rights on Immigration will generate heated debates. In Germany, Alternative für Deutschland entered the Bundestag as the third largest party and in Austria the Freiheit Partei is bound to be a member of the ruling coalition. Expect further developments.

Democracy Spanish style with politicians arrested, people beaten on the streets and Catalan Parliament suspended

This is Democracy Spanish style with politicians arrested, people beaten on the streets and Catalan Parliament suspended. Following General Franco's example, Mariano Rajoy is the Prime Minister of a very unpopular Partido Popular.

Repression, sooner than later, will lead to civil war and/or to the return of ETA and then Spanish people will be once again carried in body bags. This is the work of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. Unable to deal with Spain's acute financial problems, unable to gather enough political support to form a majority government, Mariano Rajoy will lead Spain into a bloodbath.

The European Union, out of excessive caution that it might come to regret, is allowing repression in Spain - a member country of the European Union - while the Organisation of the United Nations has ordered an investigation.

Esto es democracia al estilo español con políticos arrestados, gente golpeada en las calles y el Parlamento Catalán suspendido. Siguiendo el ejemplo del General Franco, Mariano Rajoy es el Primer Ministro de un muy impopular Partido Popular.

La represión, tarde o temprano, conducirá a una guerra civil y/o al retorno de ETA y entonces el pueblo de España será nuevamente transportado en bolsas para cadáveres. Esta es la obra del Primer Ministro Mariano Rajoy. Incapaz de lidiar con los problemas financieros serios de España, incapaz de concitar el apoyo suficiente para formar un gobierno de mayoría, Mariano Rajoy conducirá a España hacia un baño de sangre.

La Unión Europea, debido a una cautela excesiva que llegaría a lamentar, está permitiendo la represión en España - un país miembro de la Unión Europea - mientras que la Organización de las Naciones Unidas ha ordenado una investigación.