Catalan Suppression

I felt that I had to write this. I live in Spain and I am aware of some of its history and the fact that in British terms it is a relatively new democracy as is common with other mainland European countries. Also the Iberian Peninsular covers a large area, that has five languages - not counting Portuguese - and with autonomous (partly self) governing regions. The old divisions of Kingdoms, Republic and Franco’s rule still linger and this can be very evident in the rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona. This week's booing of Gerard Pique, a Catalan, when he represented Spain in an international game is a clear example of this.

Now, that is some of the background to what I really want to say. All of us have witnessed violence on our streets and England is one example. The behavior of the Spanish military police force when dealing with people expressing a wish to vote for what they consider is their right was met with un-necessary and excessive violence. It was ordered by the central government in Madrid where their need to unity was imposed over freedom. It matters not one jot whether Cataluña will be better off as a totally self governing region or not. What matters is that opinions and rights are respected.

I was appalled at the politicians responses. The Spanish Government and EU politicians and bureaucrats must surely know that suppression will lead to long running disputes. The rise of nationalism can be dangerous. I did not welcome the rise in popularity of Le Pen or AdF in Germany, but democratically they are part of the system.

I was appalled by the EU response to the violence on the streets of Barcelona when ‘police’ were preventing people from voting with violence. What harm could be done if voting took place in this ‘illegal’ referendum and the Spanish Government ignored the outcome. There would have been no disorder. Now we have more people on the streets with numbers enhanced by those who are protesting, not necessarily about the referendum, but about excessive violence. I do understand, however, that mainland Europe’s way of dealing with disorder is far more excessive than in Britain and this may account for the European leaders attitude. On the other hand it probably is because they are ‘shit scared’ of the breakup of the European Union.

If PM Cameron had come back with something that clearly the EU ministers would not give then Britain would not have needed to hold a referendum. Holding it was madness, as well as, the vote for us to exit Europe. That seems as even more madness. It is clear to me that we are dealing with an intransigent Europe and in the long term we could say ‘we told you so’. Suppression in the 1900’s created a divided continent and so let us hope, forlornly or otherwise, that the situation in Cataluña is managed.