Anthems, kings, ballot boxes

JUST AS I ARGUED against booing anthems, it doesn’t seem right to me to burn or rip up symbols, out of simple respect. And in the case of Catalonia, it doesn’t seem sound tactically, let alone strategically, because it doesn’t add to nor preserve the customary civil tone that separatism has achieved.

At the same time, taking someone to Madrid under arrest to answer charges of burning a photo of the king of Spain is disproportionate. Such actions have to be protected under freedom of expression, especially in a state like Spain, where hearing comparisons of Catalonia with the Europe of the 1930’s is a world of tolerance. Separatism doesn’t need to win any more friendlies but official matches, so that we can go to the polls and show the world who wants to use ballot boxes so everyone can vote and who wants to break them.