Darkness Ahead
Yesterday was the decisive day. It was the day Catalunya held a referendum on independence. The referendum had been declared null and illegal by the central government in Madrid, led by the conservative heirs of Franco and his stultifying regime. They declared it illegal because in the Constitution of 1978 Spain is said to be "indissoluble," therefore, no region can declare independence legally. As if a declaration of independence is ever legal and welcome by the ruling government of any nation.
Scotland was allowed to hold a referendum because it was clear to Parliament in London that the majority of voters would vote against it. In Catalunya earlier this year, it was clear that most residents were fine with being Spanish. If the referendum had been allowed to go on with little fanfare, the NO vote would have won, this would have gone away, and cool heads prevailed.
But, the ruling PP (Partido Popular), with the inimitable Mariano Rajoy at its head as the Prime Minister of Spain (not President, like Trump assures), have always been proud of their heavy-handed heritage. They believe the law must be upheld at all costs, and the police are the vehicle through which it is enforced. The referendum is illegal, so there can be no votes cast.
For the past month, they have been doing everything possible to hinder yesterday's balloting, from interrupting election apps and web pages, to seizing ballots and ballot boxes, to calling in hundreds of mayors for questioning and threatening enormous fines and jail time to those who run the polling stations. With every announcement, with every seizure, with every convoy of extra police that appeared, they created more voters.
There is a saying, "a book forbidden turns one reader into three." Well, we can now adjust that to say, "a vote forbidden turns one voter into four." Catalunya defied the central government, and held the referendum yesterday. Apparently the results were even better than they had been hoping. If the turnout three years ago to decide on having a referendum was only around thirty percent, yesterday almost fifty percent turned out to vote, and ninety percent of those voted YES. And this despite all the police charges.
The central government held a publicity campaign in Catalunya, telling its citizens to enjoy a lazy Sunday at home and to avoid being caught up in illegalities. The Catalan citizens thumbed their noses at Rajoy and were out in force, searching for a place to cast their vote. Because the police were out en masse, and making it impossible to vote in some areas, the Catalan Generalitat declared a "universal census" and said people could vote at any polling place that was open, by presenting the usual ID. Their name would be entered in the system as having voted. The system, however, was being sabotaged by Madrid, and was sometimes down until the IT wizzes could bring it back up, so some people did vote twice.
The riot police and the Guardia Civiles shipped in from the rest of the country (with morale-boosting choruses of "a por ellos", "go get them", still ringing in their ears), ripped into some of the crowds with sadistic abandon. Rubber bullets, forbidden in Catalunya since one some years ago destroyed the eye of an innocent woman, flew over the people. Another man will probably lose an eye when he was hit by one. Almost 850 civilians were injured yesterday, some seriously, including a man who suffered a heart attack when he was thrown around by police. However, the government made no mention of them, only of the nineteen police and fourteen Guardia Civiles who were hurt, probably from wielding their batons too strongly. The tweet also mentioned those brave officers who, though hurt, continued to work to uphold the law by preventing people from the mortal sin of illegally voting.
The Ministry of the Interior made no mention, however, of those hundreds injured by these fine officers. One woman described how she was thrown down the stairs, and to losen her grip from the railing, one of the helmeted mutes broke her fingers one by one on one of her hands. Others had their hair pulled out by the roots, and received numerous strikes from rubber batons. Even the elderly were roughly handled, some falling on their faces.
So where do we go from here? The Generalitat will declare independence now. A major strike has been called for, beginning tomorrow. In some places they mentioned it lasting a week. I don't know if that's economically possible. What will Rajoy the Heavy-Handed decide is the best option? Send in the army? If he does that, it's the end of him and of this hiatus of forty years of peace in this country.
People in other regions are divided. Few really want Catalunya to become independent. Others are thinking of their own possibility of holding a Basque passport or Galician ID. Most people wanted this fiasco handled differently. They wanted Rajoy to allow a non-binding referendum, and Puigdemont, the president of Catalunya, to accept that non-binding clause. They wanted them to sit down and talk about changing laws to make Catalunya, and eventually the other regions, more autonomous, and Spain a federal nation, much like Germany or the United States. Now? We'll probably be content with early elections, both in Catalunya and Madrid. That way, the hot heads will disappear, and dialogue will once again dull our evening news. Will those who wanted to save face call for elections? No, because it will mean losing that so precious face they wanted to save, only in a different way.
The crumbling of empires continues.
Scotland was allowed to hold a referendum because it was clear to Parliament in London that the majority of voters would vote against it. In Catalunya earlier this year, it was clear that most residents were fine with being Spanish. If the referendum had been allowed to go on with little fanfare, the NO vote would have won, this would have gone away, and cool heads prevailed.
But, the ruling PP (Partido Popular), with the inimitable Mariano Rajoy at its head as the Prime Minister of Spain (not President, like Trump assures), have always been proud of their heavy-handed heritage. They believe the law must be upheld at all costs, and the police are the vehicle through which it is enforced. The referendum is illegal, so there can be no votes cast.
For the past month, they have been doing everything possible to hinder yesterday's balloting, from interrupting election apps and web pages, to seizing ballots and ballot boxes, to calling in hundreds of mayors for questioning and threatening enormous fines and jail time to those who run the polling stations. With every announcement, with every seizure, with every convoy of extra police that appeared, they created more voters.
There is a saying, "a book forbidden turns one reader into three." Well, we can now adjust that to say, "a vote forbidden turns one voter into four." Catalunya defied the central government, and held the referendum yesterday. Apparently the results were even better than they had been hoping. If the turnout three years ago to decide on having a referendum was only around thirty percent, yesterday almost fifty percent turned out to vote, and ninety percent of those voted YES. And this despite all the police charges.
The central government held a publicity campaign in Catalunya, telling its citizens to enjoy a lazy Sunday at home and to avoid being caught up in illegalities. The Catalan citizens thumbed their noses at Rajoy and were out in force, searching for a place to cast their vote. Because the police were out en masse, and making it impossible to vote in some areas, the Catalan Generalitat declared a "universal census" and said people could vote at any polling place that was open, by presenting the usual ID. Their name would be entered in the system as having voted. The system, however, was being sabotaged by Madrid, and was sometimes down until the IT wizzes could bring it back up, so some people did vote twice.
The riot police and the Guardia Civiles shipped in from the rest of the country (with morale-boosting choruses of "a por ellos", "go get them", still ringing in their ears), ripped into some of the crowds with sadistic abandon. Rubber bullets, forbidden in Catalunya since one some years ago destroyed the eye of an innocent woman, flew over the people. Another man will probably lose an eye when he was hit by one. Almost 850 civilians were injured yesterday, some seriously, including a man who suffered a heart attack when he was thrown around by police. However, the government made no mention of them, only of the nineteen police and fourteen Guardia Civiles who were hurt, probably from wielding their batons too strongly. The tweet also mentioned those brave officers who, though hurt, continued to work to uphold the law by preventing people from the mortal sin of illegally voting. The Ministry of the Interior made no mention, however, of those hundreds injured by these fine officers. One woman described how she was thrown down the stairs, and to losen her grip from the railing, one of the helmeted mutes broke her fingers one by one on one of her hands. Others had their hair pulled out by the roots, and received numerous strikes from rubber batons. Even the elderly were roughly handled, some falling on their faces.
So where do we go from here? The Generalitat will declare independence now. A major strike has been called for, beginning tomorrow. In some places they mentioned it lasting a week. I don't know if that's economically possible. What will Rajoy the Heavy-Handed decide is the best option? Send in the army? If he does that, it's the end of him and of this hiatus of forty years of peace in this country.
People in other regions are divided. Few really want Catalunya to become independent. Others are thinking of their own possibility of holding a Basque passport or Galician ID. Most people wanted this fiasco handled differently. They wanted Rajoy to allow a non-binding referendum, and Puigdemont, the president of Catalunya, to accept that non-binding clause. They wanted them to sit down and talk about changing laws to make Catalunya, and eventually the other regions, more autonomous, and Spain a federal nation, much like Germany or the United States. Now? We'll probably be content with early elections, both in Catalunya and Madrid. That way, the hot heads will disappear, and dialogue will once again dull our evening news. Will those who wanted to save face call for elections? No, because it will mean losing that so precious face they wanted to save, only in a different way.
The crumbling of empires continues.
Sadly well said
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