The democratic switch and article 155

The repression showed the Spanish government's absolute ignorance of Catalan reality

Esther Vera
1 min

For those in Spain who wish to listen --truly, many don't want to-- Catalans have once again demonstrated that they are a civic people. Whether in favor of or against independence, thousands of people hit the streets to cry out, even with deafening silences, that democracy and self-government have won and that they will not be renounced. That violence will never again be a method for resolving the issues between Catalonia and Spain. For the first time in history, Catalonia will be independent, or it won't be, but it will be decided at the polls, and neither repression nor the bombings of Barcelona every 50 years that Espartero called for to "keep it at bay" are an acceptable method.

Dignity is a powerful driving force, and the indiscriminate crackdown by Spain’s National Police and the Guardia Civil on Sunday showed not only the ineptitude of the Spanish Interior Minister and the barbarity of his forces, but also the Spanish government's absolute ignorance of reality in Catalonia. Millo preferred to dance to the government's tune rather than make a courageous interpretation of the seriousness of the situation. On Sunday many Catalans became pro-independence. A democratic alarm was activated. And step-by-step, with determination, the Spanish government pushed more and more moderates down a path with no turning back. Even the king joined in yesterday. If anyone thought that Felipe VI would be a moderating factor, would encourage dialogue, they had those hopes dashed. Yesterday he gave a green light to invoking Article 155 of the Constitution and whatever Rajoy provides. Not one word of a higher vision.

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