Democracy in Madrid The final message of Saturday’s march by supporters of Catalan independence was not the one that pro-secessionist forces proclaimed in Madrid, but the one that they took home with them to Catalonia

Two Catalan pro-independence associations called a march in Madrid on Saturday under the slogan: “Self-determination is not a crime. Democracy means deciding.” With this display in the capital of a state that they revile, the separatists once again demonstrated the exact opposite of what they meant to, which is that Spain is a dictatorship that subjugates the citizens of Catalonia, and that the leaders on trial at the Supreme Court are there because of their ideas.

Each and every one of the citizens who marched in the streets of Madrid on Saturday proclaimed their ideas freely, exercising their rights as established in the very same Constitution that the leaders on trial attempted to repeal by force of facts on the ground. It is these actions, and not their ideas, that are being tried before a court of justice, with all the guarantees of the rule of law.

    Democracy reaffirmed itself in Madrid on Saturday

What has become patent after days of trial, inside and outside Spain, is that the Supreme Court does not have a verdict mapped out in advance, and that the limits of propaganda lie in reality itself. Given the impossibility of waving the caricature of a political trial, pro-independence forces on Saturday attempted to do politics with the trial, but the only result was to evidence the unlofty inner workings of a political creed that is gambling everything it has on manipulation.

Self-determination is not a crime, a banner rightly proclaimed at the march. But nor is it a right, as the orators slipped in, trusting in a definitive and generalized amnesia when it comes to international law. The same goes for the assertion that democracy means deciding. It certainly does, except when what’s being decided is how to deprive a majority of their rights. The march organizers did not care to bring that up on Saturday, yet it cannot be ignored, because the events of September 6 and 7, 2017 – when separatist parties in the Catalan parliament used irregular procedures to pass legislation to facilitate a referendum and a breakaway from Spain – did just that, ignoring the will of a majority of citizens.

    The Supreme Court does not have a verdict mapped out in advance

Democracy reaffirmed itself in Madrid on Saturday – not because of the way the concept was invoked by the separatist forces who wish to sequester democracy in Catalonia, but because it was evident, once again, that the 1978 Constitution guarantees everyone’s rights, even the rights of those who, like the separatists, want to destroy them and who offer as alternative freedoms what is nothing more than a unilateral imposition of their own political program.

The final message of the march was not the one that pro-independence forces proclaimed in Madrid, but the one that they took home with them to Catalonia. They should admit it, and have the courage to admit it in front of their supporters: the freedoms that separatist demonstrators enjoyed on Saturday in the Spanish capital are the freedoms enjoyed by any citizen in a free country ruled by the law.

https://elpais.com/elpais/2019/03/18/inenglish/1552920233_688406.html

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The leader of the secessionist historians received 6 million from the Government in two years

The leader of the pro-independence historians is, in fact, the common link in a 'pool' of companies that, as a whole, has taken a large handful of millions of euros.

A. Fernández. Barcelona

03/18/2019 05:00 - Updated: 03/18/2019 21:32

On October 17, 2018, the Department of Labor of the Generalitat awarded the allocation of a contract for the monitoring of activities developed by the General Directorate of Civic Action. The contract was divided into 24 lots, with a cost of 3.8 million euros. Ten of these contracts were taken by the companies Jan BCS and Tasca Serveis d'Animació for an amount of almost 1.9 million euros (Jan BCS took 1,080,000 euros and Tasca, 807,000 euros).


 Albert Codinas i Poch

It happens that the registered office of Tasca Serveis d'Animació is the same as the one for the Fundació Institut Nova Història. That is to say, the entity that gives shelter to the pseudo-historians (who are now called 'researchers') who disseminate the most incredible theories about the greatness of the Catalan nation: they maintain that history has been falsified by Castile, while claiming that Cristóbal Colón, Miguel de Cervantes, Miguel Servet, Saint Teresa of Jesus, Francisco Pizarro, Leonardo da Vinci or William Shakespeare, among others, were Catalans. Erasmus of Rotterdam was not satisfied with that: he was also, in fact, a son of Columbus. Of the Columbus born in the old town of Barcelona, of course.


Behind Tasca is Albert Codinas Poch. And behind Jan BCS, too: he is the sole administrator of both companies. And not only that: he acts at the same time as president of the INH Foundation, as a member of the board of the pro-sovereignty Fundació Catalunya Estat and as a member of the platform Sobirania i Justícia. He was also linked to the radical Cercle Català de Negocis (CCN) and the Via Fora! Platform, which promotes independence.

His supremacist discourse of clear contempt for everything that sounds like Castilian became crystal clear in words spoken in 2015, on the occasion of the Joan Coromines Awards: "Now we know that at the end of the 15th century, Castile was the poorest kingdom of Europe and that it did not reach a population of two million inhabitants, even though in our schools we repeat their lies of exaggeration to justify themselves as great and powerful (...) With a lot of work, two or three professors could be found in the university to be proficient in Latin and many were able to speak barbarously only in Spanish. Do you know what university I'm talking about? Of course, of that of Salamanca, at the end of the XV century". And then he stirred up: "Spain was an old Castilian aspiration - it still is - but in 1572 it was a complex reality with some ports in Seville and Cádiz full of officials and navigators of the Catalan Crown, established with their families, following the House of Trade". He dares to go as far as stating that many Andalusians do not pronounce the z well ("as in all of Latin America") because of the influence of the Catalans, who had "conquered and partially repopulated with Catalan-speaking people  Granada, part of Almeria and part of Malaga".

The assault on the Chambers of Commerce

A couple of weeks ago, Codinas was the man who presented, along with Elisenda Paluzie, president of the ANC, the pro-independence candidacy that wants to raid the Catalan Chambers of Commerce next month. But, for now, what they really seem to dominate is the money tap, because the millions received last fall are only a small part of what they receive from the public treasury.


Albert Codina was linked to the radical Cercle Català de Negocis (CCN) and the platform Via Fora!, which promotes independence.

And this is because the Catalan administrations treat these dealers with delicacy. In addition to the aforementioned contracts with the Labor Department, the Catalan Agency for Development Cooperation (ACCD) also has an open line of up to 200,000 euros for the "management, organization, invigoration, coordination, execution and evaluation of the activities of the ACCD". The contract to spend that money was awarded to Airun Servicios Culturales on March 5, 2018, when this company obtained 100 points out of 100, at a distance from the other eight contestants. It happens again that Codinas is another of the shareholders of this company, of which he was sole administrator until March 27, 2015.

On the other hand, the company carries out various activities: from taking the coordination of the ACCD to the logistics and safety of municipal activities in the parks of Barcelona, going through the social support to people of occupational work programs or, even, the "technical support to the Municipal Band of Barcelona", a contract awarded in August 2018 for a total amount of 239,580 euros.

In 2009, Codinas appeared as financial director of Airun. "We do not receive subsidies and we have a very small commercial area. The few clients we have are large entities. At the same time, our turnover has multiplied by six in six years". But what he had billed until then was little less than a tip compared to the business career developed over time.

Contracts and businesses

The leader of the pro-independence historians is, in fact, the common link in a 'pool' of companies that, as a whole, has taken a large handful of millions of euros from the Administration in recent years. These companies are the already mentioned Jan BCS, Tasca or Airun, but there are also Lart Saber Comunicar (which also has its headquarters in the INH Foundation) and another with a curious name: Asac Negocis SL, created by Codinas in 2014 with Alejandro Sánchez Nofre, member also of the board of the Fundació Catalunya Estat. Its name, which could be translated freely into Spanish as Negocios a Saco (Business without control), says it all and seems to be a sarcastic warning of the ultimate purpose of the 'pool', a linguistic caper similar to the famous Paquí Pallá SL (Back and forth) of the PP's Aguirre’s plot. If the Popular Party people in Madrid had their own tap, the pro-independence Catalans would not be less. Sánchez Nofre and other Codinas’ partners also appear in the Aktes Serveis Integrals and Ideafix Team companies, all of them with public contracts.

According to data from the Barcelona City Council, only from the managements and the districts, the Airun company obtained in 2017 a total of 33 contracts

According to data from the Barcelona City Council (wherefrom more money is coming in these years), only from the managements and the districts, the Airun company obtained, in 2017, a total of 33 contracts for an amount of 700,790.95 euros, while Tasca Serveis d'Animació won 20 contracts worth 650,563 euros, Jan BCS won six awards for 76,402 euros and Ideafix Team won another 12 contracts worth 120,563 euros. That is, 1.5 million euros of municipal funds.

But, according to the documentation to which this newspaper has had access, the contracts were much higher: on March 29 of that year, Airun obtained more than 400,000 euros in a contract from the municipal team of Ada Colau to prepare "housing reports with the purpose of promoting the employment of people at risk of exclusion", and another 302,710 euros for "the design, production and support to the organization for sporting events and sports promotion events scheduled by the Institut Barcelona Esports". With both, it already exceeds the figure cited by the consistory, which means that if the contracts awarded by the central services are accounted for, the amount of public aid to the pool grows exponentially.


The aforementioned documentation certifies that, only in the last two years, Airun took 2.3 million euros from the public coffers, while Tasca pocketed 1.9 million euros and Jan BCS received 1.7 million euros if the contracts of all administrations are included. To these almost six million must be added the contracts of Ideafix. In addition, as this newspaper has been able to verify, Aktes Serveis Integrals and Asac Negocis obtained from the municipality of Barcelona several smaller contracts in 2018 worth several tens of thousands of euros. The tasks are perfectly organized so that some companies work more with the Autonomous Administration and others with local administrations. Of what there is no doubt is that the oiling of the machinery of the pro-independence movement, at this time, is going through the stage of its greatest splendor.

https://www.elconfidencial.com/espana/cataluna/2019-03-18/cataluna-independentismo-chollo-albert-codinas-historiador_1887282/

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Violence in Catalonia needed closer scrutiny in age of fake news

Peter Preston


A failure to check pictures of those supposedly hurt in recent independence demonstrations did journalism no favours
With fake news apparently leaking from every media orifice, you’d have hoped for a little more diligence over those Catalan referendum demonstration figures and images. Over to the fact-checkers …

“We’ve seen a lot of fake pictures on people who have been hurt by the police, but were really pictures from different demonstrations,” said the head checker for the El Objective TV show. He produced web pictures of bleeding protesters that went viral – but they were old stuff from a miners’ strike five years ago. That woman who had all her fingers broken. She hadn’t. That six-year-old boy, paralysed by police brutality? It didn’t happen. Serious injuries on the day: just two.

When you plough through this account and many others, different perspectives begin to surface. Not that the civil guard’s truncheon-wielding interventions weren’t violent and frightening. But that the reporting of what happened – including the detail of those 893 injured voters – hadn’t been independently checked. Which is important, even at this stage. There’s no bonus to fear and loathing built on frail foundations.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/08/catalonia-demo-injuries-fact-checking

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Vilarrubias: "PP and PSOE have ceded the linguistic monopoly to nationalisms" The linguist Mercè Vilarrubias, who has just published 'Por una ley de lenguas', considers "unheard of in Europe" that Castilian, the majority language in Catalonia, has no right in this community

Mercè Vilarrubias en Crónica Global / LENA PRIETO

María Jesús Cañizares @MJesusCanizares

13.03.2019 00:00 h.
 

Merçè Vilarrubias with his book 'Por una ley de lenguas' 

To build a multilingual state. This is the objective of the law of languages in which Mercè Vilarrubias, Professor of English, works since 2014. She denounces that, during four decades of democracy, the successive Spanish governments have left in the hands of the nationalists the monopoly of the debate on the language "for partisan interest".

Vilarrubias has just published Por una ley de lenguas. Convivencia en el plurilinguismo (Deusto), where she proposes a roadmap to create a rule that obliges the State to be an actor in the defense of Catalan, Basque and Galician throughout Spain, but also the protection of the rights of Spanish speakers in Catalonia.

-Question. After forty years of democracy, how is it possible that there is no language law?

-Answer. There has not been a willingness to do it. We started with article 3 of the Constitution that supposed a qualitative change, because it recognized all languages as Spanish, decreed the official character of Basque, Galician and Catalan if their statutes recognized it, as a wealth of all that should be promoted. From here, the development of article 3 is left in the hands of the bilingual autonomous communities. The different nationalist autonomous governments begin to develop linguistic normalization according to their interests. And the different governments of the State see this development with concern, but it is thought that it is a question of autonomy and any intervention from the State would be interpreted as wanting to interfere. The years passed and the concept of one's own language emerged, monolingualism, and with silence on the part of the state governments, which have been trailing behind linguistic nationalism. They have not been able to develop a law for the entire country that seeks the common good. They have not known how to do it.

- Haven’t they known, or PP and PSOE have used this issue in their strategy of pacts?

-Exactly, it was the time when all this was agreed with Pujol and with Basque nationalism. The national parties allowed to do because it suited them. Partisan interests have taken precedence over making a good diagnosis. We are where we are because there has not been an understanding that the State should act intelligently. When governing the PP, with Aznar who spoke Catalan in privacy, the second law of linguistic normalization was approved in 1998. And they did not say anything because they had their interests. And the PSOE has always given reason to the nationalists and has supported its monolingual policy. We are seeing it now in the Balearic Islands, where the socialists govern with MES and Catalonia's linguistic policy program is being imposed.

-What was the point of no return? The law of linguistic policy or the Statute?

-Overall, based on the statutes renewed in Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and the Valencian Community. They deepened in the term own language, increasingly more important and with more prerogatives to the detriment of Castilian. There is a qualitative leap. Catalan and Spanish are official languages, but as their own language, Catalan becomes the language of preferential use in education, culture or administration. This concept is not in the Constitution. We should ask ourselves how the nationalists have been able to develop this program so easily. There has been something on the part of the State, which left the whole legal regime in the hands of the statutes, instead of developing Article 3 of the Constitution through a language law.

-In this area the only progress has been thanks to families of students who have fought before the courts, private associations.

-There is no regulation that regulates linguistic rights. The Constitution does not speak of linguistic rights and this was normal in 1978, given the time we were coming from. Recognizing the Spanish languages as official and as wealth of the whole country, this was something incomprehensible. In 2014 I had already written my book Sumar y no restar and saw that this topic was like a wall that could not be reasoned about because the basis of nationalism is language. When the pro-independence followers say that the Catalans are different they are basing it on the language and they will never leave it. Artur Mas said it, it's a red line. For that reason, several people thought that the issue had to be approached in another way. In that year I met Juan Claudio de Ramón (who writes the preface of the book of Vilarrubias), who was in the Spanish Embassy in Ottawa (Canada), where he studied federal bilingualism. We started talking and studying this position. There are differences, but there was a rupturist nationalism of Quebec that defended its French-speaking condition against the strength of English. It was then, with Trudeau as prime minister, that French was declared the official language of all Canadians, thus absorbing that sentimental dimension of Quebecois nationalists. We thought it was a very interesting and intelligent movement. We thought about the possibility of applying the same in Spain. The first formulations were to formalize Catalan, Galician and Basque according to the Canadian model.


- What does that law of languages imply?

-It aims to try to alleviate the problems we have had during these 40 years. On the one hand, the State has not assumed the plurilingualism of the country, it has not understood it. The State must be a linguistic actor, it must be active in the promotion of these languages. He has done things, but he has not been able to explain it. The law of languages is a road map to make better use of these languages in official institutions. On the other hand, linguistic rights, which have never been discussed, are addressed, a key instrument in the protection of diversity. We try to solve a situation that in the case of Catalonia is unprecedented in Europe, as a community that has an official language and is a majority language, as Spanish, has no right whatsoever. Two objectives, therefore: construction of a multilingual State and linguistic rights for all citizens.

- How much would it cost to apply that law of languages?

-In the book I explain the cost, because a law must have an economic memory. In Canada they spend 24,000 million euros per year because French was declared official language next to English and that has a number of prerogatives. But in Spain we have made a calculation and the start-up investment would be 2,300 million euros. It seems to us very little within the budget of a country and for the effects that a proposal like this would have. In Canada, they talk about investment, not spending, in languages. The investment in signs in the Museo del Prado in the four languages, for example, would only be done once. And in other cases, like saying hello in all four languages, it's free. Several Departments of the Government already have their website in those languages and Renfe advertising also.

-The pro-independence prisoners invoked their right to use their mother tongue in the 1-O trial.

-I thought it was very interesting that they invoked  the mother tongue and the linguistic rights in the trial of the Supreme Court, which is a court for all. With a language law, these defendants could have had simultaneous translation if they wanted to. Catalan speakers have their rights recognized in Catalonia, but not at the state level. The law we propose speaks of the linguistic rights of all. Just as Spanish speakers should have the right in Catalonia to use their language in administrations, receive education or accessing grants to create a means of communication in Spanish. Why not?

-The use of euphemisms as "own language", "habitual" or "preferred" has been deliberate, precisely to deny the right of Spanish speakers?

-The mother tongue is recognized in numerous international conventions, it implies rights. The nationalists have never been interested. They invoked it when the teaching was all in Spanish. One of the arguments for teaching in Catalan was that children were better educated in their mother tongue. But once the idea of an immersion for everyone is launched, the concept of mother tongue no longer interested. Once I spoke with the Síndic de Greuges, Rafael Ribó, on this subject and he became very aggressive about the fact that there was no right to the mother tongue. I speak of mother tongue and language of preference, because people must be free to choose. But they are not interested in that debate.


-To the point that instructions are given for children to play in Catalan in the playground...

-The inmersion is based on an obligation. In the classroom, the teacher speaks in Catalan and the majority obeys because there is no other way out. But once you go out into the yard or onto the street, everyone speaks as they want. People tend to speak in their mother tongue and that cannot be controlled. That's where come out initiatives like Al pati, en Català to reinforce and halfway to force. We know that the obligation has limits and immersion works in Catalan-speaking areas, but in the more bilingual areas there is a separation between what the school imposes and what is spoken on the street. There is a shock there. The objective is the identification with Catalan by all and adding the nationalist backpack, because the language is devoid of ideology.

-The nationalists say that Castilian is a language of colonization...

-They add those bonuses based on what interests them. At this moment, what we have to do is not discuss with them but make an alternative discourse better than theirs. It is much better, ethically and democratically, to appeal to the discourse of diversity in terms of respect for individual liberties and equality. These are the values of the current liberal democracies. When I was writing the book I had to stop because I thought there are no politicians to do this. You have to be realistic and assume that it will take many years to develop something like that. There is no need to be in a hurry, but social changes, of perception, take time.

-We have gone from nationalism to a 'procés' in which the positions are increasingly bitter, it seems impossible to reach an agreement.

- You can talk with the nationalists, of course. But the approach is not that they give the go-ahead, because they have always had a monopoly on the language, they are the only representatives and managers. And this is not the case. The four national parties (PP, PSOE, Ciudadanos and Podemos) should begin to forge minimum consensus, to be aware that it should be a state issue. The first action should be the constitution of a state commission of linguistic experts which would collect the feelings of the citizens and of the different sectors, also from the nationalists. And after two years of work, make a white paper on how should be that law of languages to be approved by Congress.

-The leader of the PP, Pablo Casado, has proposed a law of languages...

-It has nothing to do with our proposal; it was said that way, suddenly, and never heard again. And it is also unconstitutional because Catalan would practically cease to exist, it would be optional. It is curious that the PP does not have advisers, that it launches proposals that are nothing and, when it governs, does nothing.

- Who is the book for?

-We must be realistic. The ideas begin in civil society and are gaining consensus. We will talk to the political parties, but this will take time. The Canadian federalists told us that this will take time. The plurality in Spain will not change, so we must recognize mistakes, look to the future and improve coexistence. Our proposal does not intend to blur the common language, Castilian. The engine has been the exclusion of Castilian in Catalonia, which is labeled a fascist language, of settlers and criminals. But I would like to explain that denying the promotion of the linguistic rights of Catalans, Basques and Galicians in State institutions does not help in the defense of linguistic plurality. And it plays in favor of the nationalists and the trenches. Castilian is the majority language and works as a lingua franca. But when we speak of a common language from a sentimental point of view, we must accept that there are people who identify themselves more with Catalan, Basque or Galician. And they are languages that have expanded a lot, which are the mother tongue of many people, and that is not an offense to Spanish, but a choice of these citizens.

https://cronicaglobal.elespanol.com/politica/vilarrubias-pp-psoe-monopolio-lingueistico-nacionalismos_229065_102.html

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Israel criticises Catalan government over Anne Frank tweet - Israeli embassy in Spain calls use of quote for political cause ‘a disgrace’

Anne Frank, whose quote was tweeted with a yellow ribbon in support of jailed Catalan leaders. 

The Israeli embassy in Madrid has accused the Catalan government of using the Holocaust “to promote a political cause”, after its spokeswoman tweeted a quote from Anne Frank alongside a picture of the yellow ribbon worn in solidarity with jailed or exiled regional independence leaders.

 Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

On Tuesday, Elsa Artadi posted a yellow ribbon emoji, followed by words from Frank, the Jewish teenager who hid from the Nazis with her family in Amsterdam before dying of typhus in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany.

“We aren’t allowed to have any opinions. People can tell you to keep your mouth shut, but it doesn’t stop you having your own opinion … No one should be prevented from saying what they think,” ran the abridged quote.

Artadi added: “A very appropriate quote from Anne Frank, who died in Bergen-Belsen 69 years ago today.” In fact, Frank died 74 years ago, in February or March 1945.

Spain’s electoral commission has ordered the pro-independence Catalan government to remove yellow ribbons and separatist estelada flags from official buildings because it says they are partisan symbols and should not be used by regional authorities in the run-up to general and European elections in April and May.

Assaf Moran, Israel’s deputy chief of mission to Spain, said of Artadi’s tweet: “Nothing, but nothing can be compared to the Holocaust to promote a political cause. This comparison is a disgrace!”
The former French prime minister Manuel Valls, who is running for the mayoralty of Barcelona in May’s elections, also criticised the tweet. “A disgrace and a lack of historical knowledge. Spain is a democracy. How can it be compared to the Holocaust? Enough of all this nonsense!”

In January last year, the former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, who went into exile after his government’s failed bid for independence, was criticised for tweeting and praising a video that featured images of the then Spanish prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, along with archive footage of Hitler and Franco.

Twelve Catalan leaders are on trial in Madrid for the parts they are alleged to have played in the region’s attempt to break away from Spain in autumn 2017.

Nine of the defendants, who include the former Catalan vice-president Oriol Junqueras, the former speaker of the Catalan parliament Carme Forcadell and two influential grassroots activists, Jordi Cuixart and Jordi Sànchez, are accused of rebellion, which carries a prison sentence of up to 25 years. Other charges include sedition and the misuse of public funds.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/13/israel-criticises-catalan-government-over-anne-frank-tweet

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The Sicilian Generalitat - To understand the judgment of the 'procés' one must read Leonardo Sciascia and Andrea Camilleri

Xavier Vidal-Folch

12 MAR 2019 - 20:44 CET


We heard about the 3% case, the Palau de la Música case, the Tourism case, the Caric case, the Pallerols case, the ITV case, the family cases.


Of all that pujolist and pospujolist corruption we knew a whole encyclopedia. Catalan, of course. But until this oral hearing we never suspected to what extent the Generalitat was the real institutional heir of our Sicilian ex-colony.

To understand this trial one must read Leonardo Sciascia and Andrea Camilleri, their seas of wine, joy and blood, their fields of potters, families and revenge. Almost everything is here, except for sex.

This is, in effect, a story where the secret (bills and invoices) are caked with silence (about the last person ordering everything needed for the voting), and the fear of challenging them: the omertà.

The pressure is on the weak (that needy provider, about to be ruined); the threat so that he does not fail (the unusual transfer of material in the street, "next to a bar"); or say (with whom he spoke, who ordered); social coercion (we are members of the same associations); and the overshoot (it is the cause, you understand me), just for him to go along.

And the urge is combined (for right now!) with distraction (intermediaries who ignore everything), and coercion (if you talk, we will not hire you anymore).

And there is no lack, in short, of the mysterious aura surrounding the pseudonym of Deus ex machina in the operation of the referendum stationery: Toni. Toni is probably Toni Molons, former secretary of Dissemination (propaganda) of the Govern, ceased when the 155 and current communication idem (propaganda). He is prosecuted for seven alleged crimes in the 13th Court of Barcelona.

His name has already surfaced twice: this Tuesday, and in the session of the 6th, also dedicated to the manufacture and distribution of ballots, envelopes, letters, in addition to advertising inserts and computer plans.

The scheme of the suppliers is sequential: there is a commission (for an unidentifiable account of the Generalitat, of Òmnium, or vaporous, or of Xavier Vendrell: sometimes, like this Tuesday, the witnesses contradict each other); a price is agreed (proforma is pre-invoiced or invoiced, or nothing); it is usually alluded to the fact that others, sometimes indeterminate, will pay.

But nobody pays, apparently; invoices are forgiven, or canceled by "negative" invoices; and thus the companies damaged/benefitted are still with their heads hang to basin of the homologation to continue going to public competitions of the house of Sicily.

All that tells about an administrative quagmire. And a colossal shame, in political, journalistic and of social reality terms. Or in Camilleri’s own terms.

But judicially the cosa nostra is another thing. To the clue, to the powerful inference, to the intense suspicion, to the exact but partial portrait, to the contradictory testimony, indubitable, personalized and substantive evidence that the crime of embezzlement has been committed need to be added.

https://elpais.com/elpais/2019/03/12/opinion/1552412715_370975.html

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Les mythes et fantasmes entretenus par l’appareil séparatiste catalan...

Entretien exclusif avec Nicolas Klein, professeur, auteur et spécialiste de l’Espagne.

FM : L’indépendantisme catalan alimente des mythes comme celui d’un ennemi héréditaire ou encore celui d’être volé économiquement – ce qui a été invalidé à maintes reprises. Il utilise la victimisation dans sa propagande. Il aime ressusciter Franco. Pourtant, il apparaît que la Catalogne n’a pas plus souffert du franquisme que les autres régions d’Espagne. Qu’en-est-il ?

Nicolas Klein  : L’indépendantisme catalan aime en effet mettre l’accent sur la victimisation dont il aurait particulièrement fait l’objet, selon ses défenseurs, au cours de l’histoire espagnole, surtout en comparaison des autres régions du pays. Tantôt, ce sont la Castille et Madrid, dépeints comme d’horribles monstresfroids et centralisateurs, qui occupent le devant de la scène dans ce discours schématique ; tantôt, ce sont l’Andalousie et l’Estrémadure, terres méprisées car « arriérées » et plus pauvres mais aussi plus « généreusement arrosées » d’argent par l’État central, qui reviennent au premie

En réalité, d’un point de vue économique, la Catalogne et le Pays basque ont été les deux grands gagnants de la période franquiste car la dictature n’a fait que poursuivre une politique menée depuis deux siècles au moins (politique dont lesinitiateurs sont les Bourbons). La bourgeoisie catalane a été l’un des piliers matériels et financiers fondamentaux du camp nationaliste durant la Guerre civile (1936-1939) car elle était effrayée par les « rouges » et ne voulait surtout pas d’une victoire de l’extrême gauche républicaine. Elle s’est donc montrée très proche de Francisco Franco, l’exemple le plus frappant en étant sans doute l’entrepreneur Francesc Cambó, grande figure de la Ligue régionaliste dont les descendants idéologiques actuels sont Carles Puigdemont et Quim Torra.

Franco, qui savait pertinemment qu’il devait en partie sa victoire à cette bourgeoisie farouchement anticommuniste, lui a bien rendu la pareille à partir des années 50-60. C’est la Catalogne qui a été la mieux dotée en termes d’infrastructures lourdes (autoroutes, ports, pôle pétrochimique de Tarragone) dans tout le pays et elle a également bénéficié de nombreux avantages (Madrid, par exemple, n’a reçu l’autorisation d’organiser une foire internationale que des décennies après Barcelone et c’est la jeune démocratie espagnole qui lui a octroyé ce droit, pas Franco).

De fait, ce sont les Catalans et les Basques qui ont accueilli avec le plus de ferveur populaire le caudillo lors de ses déplacements en province (les images sont à ce sujet éloquentes), notamment dans les zones les plus indépendantistes à l’heure actuelle, comme Berga ou Manresa. Il faut comprendre qu’il s’agit en fait des héritières du carlisme (idéologie absolutiste, réactionnaire et traditionaliste qui s’oppose au libéralisme de Madrid à partir du xixe siècle) qui ne font que reproduire depuis lors, ce rejet de l’égalité et du projet démocratique porté par le centre du pays.

Si l’on s’en tient à la répression des nationalistes contre les républicains, selon les estimations du juge Baltasar Garzón (que l’on ne peut guère tenir pour un nostalgique du caudillo), entre 1936 et 1939, la Catalogne a été moins touchée que la région de Valence, la Nouvelle-Castille, l’Estrémadure, le León et la Vieille-Castille, la Galice ou même les Asturies, autant de provinces moins peuplées.

Après 1939, la province de Cordoue a connu des exactions bien plus importantes que celle de Barcelone, pour ne citer qu’un autre exemple frappant.

Reste la problématique du catalan, qui n’a en effet pas été promu au même titre que le castillan durant la dictature. Il n’en reste pas moins que cette langue régionale n’a pas été bannie de l’espace public : les foules passionnées qui recevaient Franco en Catalogne l’accueillaient avec des calicots en catalan. Par ailleurs, même si l’enseignement du catalan n’étaient alors pas aussi répandu qu’aujourd’hui, nombre de livres étaient officiellement publiés dans cette langue et il existait même des concours littéraires qui la mettaient à l’honneur et n’avaient rien de clandestin.

Par conséquent, la société catalane n’a ni plus, ni moins souffert du franquisme que celle du reste du pays.

FM : À contrario, l’indépendantisme catalan semble taire les années noires d’un certain Lluís Companys. Qui était-il ?

Nicolas Klein  : Lluís Companys est en effet une figure-clé de l’histoire contemporaine catalane (et, partant, espagnole). Né en 1882, il est avocat de formation et occupe brièvement le poste de ministre de la Marine de l’Espagne en 1933. Il préside par la suite la Généralité de Catalogne, de 1934 à 1940.

Il s’agit de l’un des principaux chefs de file de la Gauche républicaine de Catalogne (ERC), parti qui existe toujours aujourd’hui et défend l’indépendance de la communauté autonome. Exilé en France après la défaite des républicains à l’issue de la Guerre civile, il est arrêté par la Gestapo, remis aux autorités franquistes et fusillé à Barcelone en 1940. Cette fin tragique lui confère bien entendu une aura considérable dans l’univers séparatiste actuel.

FM : Quels sont les faits qu’on peut lui reprocher ?

Nicolas Klein  : L’exécution de Companys par les autorités franquistes est parvenue à éclipser dans l’esprit de beaucoup son action somme toute contestable (pour le dire gentiment) en tant que président de la Généralité de Catalogne.

Le dernier président de la Seconde République espagnole, Manuel Azaña, rapporte dans ses mémoires que Companys était partisan d’une « démocratie expéditive » (democracia expeditiva), expression qui en dit déjà long sur les convictions de ce dirigeant.

Outre le fait qu’il a proclamé l’indépendance de la Catalogne en octobre 1934 (trahissant ainsi la République), il a surtout ordonné des exécutions massives et aveugles à l’encontre de tous ceux qui avaient le malheur de ne pas communier avec ses idées. Ses massacres d’ecclésiastiques sont restés tristement célèbres, même s’il ne s’agit pas du seul secteur qui a eu à souffrir de la répression qu’il a orchestrée.

FM : Pourtant, de Lérida à Barcelone en passant par Blanes et Manresa – pour ne mentionner que ces villes –, des rues portent son nom. Comment est-ce possible ?

Nicolas Klein  : Toutes les nations ont besoin de références mythiques et de légendes fondatrices. Au même titre que Rafael Casanova, Francesc Cambó ou Enric Prat de la Riba, Lluís Companys figure dans le panthéon des « héros » qui ont lutté pour l’indépendance et la « liberté » de la Catalogne, tout du moins si l’on considère les choses avec le regard des séparatistes.

Il convient, dans ce contexte, d’éviter de souiller leur nom et leur réputation. La Généralité a donc mis sous le tapis tout ce qui pouvait la gêner chez de tels personnages au nom du combat pour la construction d’une réalité nationale catalane qui se veut radicalement opposée à la réalité nationale espagnole (ou à ce que les sécessionnistes en perçoivent). Elle n’en est de toute façon pas à une manipulation près…

http://leblogdefrancoismeylan.blog.24heures.ch/archive/2019/03/12/les-mythes-et-fantasmes-entretenus-par-l-appareil-separatist-867087.html

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The Electoral Board requires Torra to remove yellow ribbons and Catalan pro-independence banners from public buildings The board considers "legitimate" that the parties use these symbols, but not the institutions

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Anabel Díez

Madrid 12 MAR 2019 - 12:13 CET

The Central Electoral Board (JEC) on Monday required the president of the Government of Catalonia, Quim Torra, to order within 48 hours the immediate withdrawal of pro-independence flags and yellow ribbons that can be found in any public building dependent of the Govern.

According to the JEC, both symbols can be "legitimately used by the political parties in their electoral propaganda but not by the public powers since they must maintain a rigorous political neutrality". In a meeting of more than six hours, the magistrates and professors who make up the Board, highlighted that "the yellow ribbon and the pro-independence flag are partisan symbols used by electoral groups participating in the elections". By way of description they notice that "the yellow ribbon has been used to remind of leaders or candidates belonging to political parties that are in a situation of preventive detention".

In the interests of equality of suffrage, "the law entrusts the electoral administration with preserving it and prohibits the public powers -which are at the service of all citizens- from taking sides in elections". To which it should be added that the ideological and expression freedoms are fundamental rights of the people, not of the rulers, so that citizens can exercise them without any restrictions other than those imposed by respect for the rights of others", the resolution argues. The Generalitat may now appeal this decision by filing a contentious-administrative appeal before the Third Chamber of the Supreme Court within two months from the date of its notification.

Citizens on Wednesday gave a deadline of one day to the Government to withdraw the yellow bows because they consider that the presence of these symbols violated the principle of institutional neutrality in the election period. Alfred Bosch, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Generalitat, replied that they would not do it and argued that the exhibition of ribbons and banners is covered by the fundamental right to freedom of expression. One day later, the group of Inés Arrimadas filed a complaint with the Central Electoral Board.

This decision is not the first time to be adopted. In the last Catalan elections, in December 2017, the electoral board of Barcelona already adopted the same measure and forced several municipalities of the province to remove yellow ribbons from their buildings and to remove banners, which contained slogans such as "Freedom to political prisoners".

Before, there was also a pronouncement on the placement of pro-independence banners. The Supreme Court said in 2016 that it is a "partisan" banner that represents only "a part of the Catalan citizens represented by part of the political parties". And, therefore, the magistrates concluded that their exhibition in public buildings violates the requirement of "neutrality" of these, especially in the electoral period.

"Citizens have done what Sanchez's government does not do: to denounce the seizure of public spaces by nationalism before the Electoral Board". Torra maintains the separatist propaganda in the buildings while Sánchez looks the other way round. The JEC has supported our position”, "Inés Arrimadas, leader of Citizens in Catalonia, celebrated this Monday after knowing about the decision.

https://elpais.com/politica/2019/03/11/actualidad/1552330301_965901.html

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The National High Court confirms the fine to the ANC for not protecting the data of its associates

Anonymous Catalonia published in 2014 a file on Facebook with references of 53,800 affiliates and supporters of the pro-sovereignty entity
Fernando J. Pérez

Madrid 8 MAR 2019 - 20:40 CET



The National High Court has confirmed the administrative penalty of 40,000 euros imposed on the Assemblea Nacional Catalana (ANC)  for not properly protecting the personal data of 53,818 of its affiliates and supporters, which ended up in the hands of hackers and were published on social networks in April 2014. The pro-sovereignty entity, presided over by Carme Forcadell, neglected to care about information specially protected by law, such as ideology, union affiliation and beliefs, as well as another referring to personal identity, addresses and economic and financial data. The court has also fined the ANC with 200,000 euros for violating the data protection law with the so-called Gigasurvey for the illegal consultation of November 9, 2014, a survey for which Omnium Cultural, the other large civil organization pro-independence,  has already been fined.

The ruling, from the Contentious-Administrative Chamber, confirms the two fines that the Spanish Data Protection Agency imposed on the ANC. The ruling explains that, in April 2014, the entity prepared a file with data from all its associates to prepare the general assembly that was to be held in Tarragona. From this file, in September of the same year, the group calling itself Anonymous Catalonia published, in its Facebook profile, a set of data of members of the ANC, such as the numbers of associate, names and surnames, DNI, emails, types of partner and, where appropriate, debts with the entity.

The ANC, after knowing the leak, filed a complaint in which it showed that access to the data could be produced through the archive of the census of partners used to prepare the General Assembly of the month of April 2014. This file was deleted once the meeting of the highest body of the entity ended. The ANC requested from Facebook and Wikisend, the encrypted platform with which the data were transferred, the withdrawal of the illegally published files.

The lack of adequate security measures to guarantee the security of the personal data contained in the file created for the management of the ANC assembly has been proven for the judges. The web application, made available to the associates for that assembly, allowed access to the file through the DNI number, without any type of password. That lack of security measures, assures the ruling of the Court, allowed an unidentified third party to access the profile of the 53,818 registered associates at the time of access, and obtain personal data.

In the same ruling, the National High Court has confirmed another penalty of 200,000 euros for very serious infringement, which the Spanish Data Protection Agency imposed in April 2016 on the ANC - as well as on Omnium Cultural - for carrying out a survey throughout Catalonia about independence. This poll, by the way in which it was conducted and in which the data were treated, potentially allowed to personally identify supporters or those opposed to secession. The pro-sovereignty entities carried out the so-called Gigasurvey between October and November 2014, in the middle of the campaign ‘Ara es l'Hora’ (Now is the  Time) for mobilization for the sovereignty consultation of November 2014, organized by the Generalitat despite the ban of the Constitutional Court.

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Infiltrators of the pro-independence movement - After gaining union weight, secessionism faces the assault on the chambers of commerce

Agustí Sala



Saturday, 09/03/2019 at 09:00 CET





At times I remember the movie 'The Departed', by Martin Scorsese, in which the rookie policeman Billy Costigan, played by Leonardo di Caprio, joins the band of the powerful boss of the Irish mafia Frank Costello (the histrionic Jack Nicholson).

Saving distances, of course, without mafias or camouflaged police, the reference serves to describe how pro-independence civil movements like the Catalan National Assembly (ANC) promote the assault (legal and democratic) to institutions and entities of the 'establishment' in Catalonia. And they also get enthusiastic support from the Government, driven by a certain desire for revenge against the established economic powers, which, in their opinion, left the 'procés' in the lurch. "Now it is our time to change the correlation of forces", it seems they are saying to themselves.

This infiltration attempt, in addition to the political colonization carried out in numerous professional chartered institutions and associations over the last years, may have one of its high points in the upcoming elections to the chambers of commerce, with a candidacy being promoted by the ANC or the Cercle Català de Negocis. Its objective is to obtain the maximum number of members in the plenary sessions of these institutions, especially in Barcelona, in order to gain a presidency that is as favorable as possible to the independence movement and, if possible, to unilateralism. More than business interests, they openly defend political and secessionist objectives.

Another episode of this offensive has been the last union elections in the central and territorial services of the Generalitat. The Intersindical CSC, a residual union so far, which called the last and failed  'country strike on 21 February - encouraged by the Govern - has become the second most voted force, with just over 20% of the total and has gone from 4 to 35 delegates 'Vote for a trade union committed to the country', encouraged the ANC from its twitter account.

In a similar line, the chamber elections, which should be held between May 2 and 8, can give those who openly support the infiltration of secessionism in all institutions and entities of the economic and social world an important boost. 'The chambers of commerce: tools for the country' is its motto. More clearly...

And the electronic vote, introduced by the Govern, allows an unprecedented level of participation, which leaves much more open the result of the elections to the chambers than with the previous system. All this can be the final touch on the cake of pro-sovereignty strategy, like that referendum to which they so much appeal. Mobilization capacity is not missing in the pro-independence movement, as some of its opponents and the 'establishment' know. In the end it is a question of ballot boxes and votes. Is not that democracy?

https://www.elperiodico.com/es/opinion/20190309/independentismo-infiltrado-7340900

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Trials of Catalan activists - the what the why and how great academic centers are unwittingly contributing to undermining a European democracy

Twelve former Catalan politicians and activists are currently facing trial before the Spanish Supreme Court for charges ranging from misuse of public funds to disobedience and rebellion. The prosecutions are a consequence of their involvements in the acts leading to the so-called ‘unilateral declaration of independence’, issued by the Catalan Parliament in September and October 2017 and which triggered the biggest constitutional crisis Spain has witnessed since its democratic transition.

The Catalan Regional Government (Generalitat) in 2017, sought to subvert Spain’s constitutional order. despite the Constitutional Court’s constant warnings, rulings and prohibitory injunctions, and relying on the alleged legitimacy it had been awarded by the supposed ‘will of the Catalan people’. This Cabinet passed laws which sought to suspend the operation of the Spanish constitution in Catalonia, with the hope that leading to a situation of de facto independence would force the Spanish state to recognize its formal independence.
In doing so, an attack was launched against the most fundamental provisions of the Spanish constitution: Articles 1(1), 1(2) and 2, which hold that Spain is a country “subject to the rule of law”, the foundations of which lie on the country’s “indissoluble unity” and on a “national sovereignty” belonging to “the Spanish people” as a whole. Contrary to what is claimed by individuals such as Thursday’s speaker, this is no constitutional anomaly or the sign of a totalitarian state.France, Italy, Germany, Norway, Switzerland and Brazil all contain similar provisions, as does the USA in Texas v White (1869) 410 US 179, where it was held that that the United States federation was “indissoluble” and “perpetual”. As recently as 2016, the German Constitutional Court struck down a secessionist referendum in Bavaria, arguing that the sovereignty of the German state rested on the German people as a whole, not on individual Länder.

These acts of open breach of the Spanish Constitution led to the application by the Spanish Central government of Article 155 which involves the suspension of the regional autonomy and the dismissal of the Cabinet at the time,. The implementation of the Article 155 was authorized by the Senate. Once again, this is not unique to the Spanish constitution: it is based on the concept of Bundeszwang (Article 37 of the German Constitution), and similar provisions can be found in the constitutions of Austria (Art 100), Italy (Art 126) or Argentina (Art 75).

Following her escape from the country of the former President, Carles Puigdemont and several of his "ministers" , a European Arrest Warrant was issued against them by the the Spanish Audiencia Nacional (Court of Appeal) although later withdrawn . Since then they have been touring Europe, lecturing on the biased Spanish judiciary, the oppressive nature of the Spanish state (as the title of Thursday’s talk implies) and the fact the country allegedly has political prisoners.

Spain, is a member of the European Union and of the Council of Europe and a country with what is often considered one of Europe’s most progressive constitutions, does not have political prisoners. Similarly, the Supreme Court’s trial of the secessionist leaders will be no ‘show trial’, but one which, like every other trial which takes place in the country, will be conducted under the extensive procedural guarantees provided by both the Spanish Constitution and by the European Convention of Human Rights.

It is deeply regrettable, that many outside Spain have fallen into the secessionist narrative which attempts to portray Spain as an oppressive state and the Spanish judiciary as a biased one. There is no democratic mandate beyond that established by a country’s constitution, which lays the framework of a society’s rights and legal obligations. It is not permissible, in any democratic regime, to deliberately violate (and call for the violation of) the constitution, under the false pretence of operating under an alternative legal order.

There are even Law faculties around Europe who are hosting talks with some of these leaders currently fugitives from justice.? Would for example any university in Europe host someone who is avoiding a European Arrest Warrant issued by the UK, after explicitly vowing to disobey the Constitution and declare the independence of one of its constituent nations? Would it allowed a talk which sought to project the image of the UK being a “fascist state” with a biased judiciary as has been the case in some well renowned universities sucha as Cambridge? It is highly doubtful.
By hosting these talks these centers of knowledge are contributing to the narrative of the members of the former Catalan government being martyrs. They are not: they are politicians who, in full knowledge of their actions, intentionally acted ultra vires in respect of their own Statute of Autonomy. It is contributing to the notion that it is permissible to, in the name of das Volk, disavow a country’s constitution. More importantly, perhaps, it is allowing its premises and its brand to be used to attack the judiciary of an EU Member State and to undermine the very notion of the Rule of Law and the Rechstaat.

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Catalan pro-independence protesters burn photos of Spanish king ahead of Mobile World Congress

Felipe VI opened the leading trade show in Barcelona by praising Spain’s democracy, which has been criticized in the wake of the Supreme Court trial against 12 separatist leaders

Barcelona 25 FEB 2019 - 14:27 CET

More than a thousand protesters from the self-styled Committee for the Defense of the Republic (CDR), a grassroots pro-Catalan independence protest group, and the anti-capitalist separatist group Arran demonstrated on Sunday in Barcelona against the presence of King Felipe VI at the Mobile World Congress (MWC), a leading trade show hosted in the Catalan capital.

Burning pictures of the king

In a high-profile case dating back to 2007, Catalan separatists Enric Stern and Jaume Roura burned a large-format photo of the Spanish king and queen during an anti-monarchy protest in Girona, ahead of a visit to the city by then-King Juan Carlos. They were sentenced by Spain’s High Court (Audiencia Nacional) to pay a €2,700 fine if they wanted to avoid jail for the offense of insulting the Crown. The European Court of Human Rights later found that the decision violated article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights, which defends freedom of expression. The ruling rejected the sanction imposed by the Spanish courts, and also called on Spain to compensate the applicants with the same amount that they paid in fines, as well as €9,000 in total for the pair to cover their legal fees. 

The protesters marched toward the National Museum of Catalan Art (MNAC), where the king was scheduled to appear at the MWC opening dinner, carrying signs in support of the separatist leaders on trial at the Supreme Court for their involvement in the illegal independence referendum on October 1, 2017, and the unilateral declaration of independence that was passed a few weeks later in the Catalan regional parliament.

The protesters were stopped by riot police from reaching the venue and returned to their starting point in Plaza España square, burning the Spanish flag, copies of the Spanish Constitution and photos of the king on their way. The pro-independence demonstrators then returned to the MNAC, where they threw paint and objects at the police cordon. Despite the heightened tension, the riot police did not charge at the group.

King Felipe VI at MWC

King Felipe VI, meanwhile, officially opened the leading mobile industry trade show by praising Spain’s democracy, describing it as one of the strongest in the world. “On its own merit, Spain has become one of the 20 fullest democracies [in the world], with international recognition, and in real terms, our democracy has reached the highest level of prosperity and well-being in our entire history,” he said in a speech that combined Spanish, English and Catalan. Spain “enjoys solid institutions and political and economic strength,” the king continued.

CDR protesters burn photos of the king.

The comments came as the Spanish justice system is under increasing scrutiny over the Supreme Court trial, which independence supporters have tried to portray as unfair and politically motivated. Both the Spanish government and the separatists have made diplomatic efforts to win support for their cause abroad. Last week, the king backed the Spanish state against the 12 separatist defendants, arguing at a prize ceremony in Madrid that “it is not possible to appeal to a supposed democracy for being above the law.”

The dinner at the MWC marked the first time that Felipe VI had appeared at the same table as Catalan regional premier Quim Torra, who is a vocal opponent of the monarch and the trial against the 12 separatist leaders. Torra and Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau were intentionally absent from the ceremonial greeting to the king, which is established by protocol. Unlike last year, however, the king was not booed or jeered at when he arrived at the event. Felipe VI has been coming to the MWC since 2006, the first year that it was held here – first as Crown Prince, and since 2015 as the king of Spain.

Spain has become one of the 20 most internationally recognized democracies

King Felipe VI

Speaking in English, Catalan premier Torra called on the audience at the MWC dinner to remember “who opened Mobile World Congress two years ago,” a reference to Carles Puigdemont, the former premier of Catalonia who is in self-imposed exile in Brussels after fleeing the Spanish justice system, which has ordered his arrest over his role in the pro-independence drive. “In Catalonia, we love democracy more than anything,” Torra added.

Torra and his regional government are known for their opposition to the Spanish monarchy. When Torra was sworn in as premier, he made no reference to the Spanish Constitution or the king of Spain during the official ceremony. On Monday at the official launch of MWC, Torra avoided being photographed with the official committee alongside Felipe VI and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. The official excuse was that the premier had an “important” meeting with several companies at the trade show.

https://elpais.com/elpais/2019/02/25/inenglish/1551098672_932083.html 

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The procés spreads to the best hospital in Catalonia: "They look like Taliban and not doctors"

The Hospital Clínic of Barcelona has become an arm of social agitation of
the Government. Its direction implements weekly protests and rallies in favor
of independence



The top brass of the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona sings standing up, and some of them with fists up, the hymn 'Els Segadors'. Many are wearing their white coats. The voices reverberate in the auditorium of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Barcelona, ​​integrated into the hospital, giving an air of liturgy. In front of them, the 'president' Quim Torra observes them as an extreme priest and also sings. An interpreter wearing a yellow blouse plays the cello. There are posters with the faces of the defendants in the 'procés' on the wall. The scene happened a few days ago and gave goose bumps to thousands of people in social networks. Also to medical professionals of the Hospital Clínic, who see with resignation how this hospital center, the flagship of Catalan health, the third best Spanish hospital  according to the ‘rankings', has been converted by the Government into a tool of propaganda and social upheaval.


The scene described is not part of an exceptional event. Once a week for a year and a half, a group of professionals from the Clinic, including the top brass, gather in the hospital lobby just to 'build republic' and remind the public, in this case the patients, of the fact that Catalonia is a victim of repression. Frequently, solemn visits by senior officials of the Generalitat are organized. On February 12, coinciding with the start of the trial in the Supreme Court, the heads of the hospital and some professionals of different rank protested in the lobby with the minister of Health, Alba Vergés. After the obligatory sermons, all sang 'Els Segadors'. Then they went out to cut Villarroel street for a few minutes with a big banner with the motto 'Democracia'.


 “They control the hospital, so they do what they want", says Pedro*, one of the Clínic's doctors who do not share the current drift. "The board of trustees and the governing body are a typical example of revolving doors for politicians, and for the past few years, they have been using the Clínic to place people loyal to their regime; we all know that political acts, stoppages at the entrance each week, the banners of support for the 'political prisoners' and the ties that have been hanging in recent times on the walls have been sponsored from the top. It seems to me those are signs of arrogance towards other colleagues and a lack of respect for the patients, but let’s leave it to everyone with their conscience. I, as surely many of us do, dedicate myself to go, do my job well and go home without mixing in these issues, I keep my opinions for my private life".


The governing council of the Hospital Clínic is chaired by Xavier Pomés, strong man of Jordi Pujol and Democratic Convergence since the nineties, when he held key positions in successive legislatures. Along with him, there are up to seven members of the Catalán Health Service (an entity dependent on the Government) in the governing body, which makes it possible to shore up any decision making with their votes. Among these members stands out the presence of Nuria Terribas, sister of the journalist Mónica Terribas, a reference of Catalunya Ràdio.

https://twitter.com/Llibertatcat/status/1101864947401850880?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1101864947401850880&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.elconfidencial.com%2Fespana%2Fcataluna%2F2019-03-06%2Fhospital-clinic-torra-propaganda-doctores-miedo-hablar_1863554%2F

At the operational level, the maximum figure of the hospital is the general director and nephrologist, Josep Maria Campistol, a person very close to the political nomenklatura although little given to sovereignty verbal excesses. Campistol receives a salary of 109,663 euros, only one euro less than the minister of Health. For his part, the dean of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Barcelona (the Clinic is a university hospital), Francesc Cardellach, openly defends radical postulates in favor of independence and his opinions have led to angry protests from the medical and teaching community in several occasions.


Doctors against the Spanish dictatorship


The vehicle to express fidelity to the Government is the so-called Clinical Collective for Democracy (CCD), a platform created by professionals of the Clinic that, according to their own figures, has more than 800 members among health personnel and teachers of the Faculty of Medicine. According to the physicians consulted, the heads of the units and relevant members of the hospital are behind this initiative, which was concocted to make visible that the medical sector in Catalonia repudiates the oppression of the State. After his recent visit, Quim Torra thanked the "friends" of the CCD for their "commitment to freedom and a country of quality".


"Nobody forces you to go to the weekly rallies in the lobby, but that helps them to indicate who is in the photo and who is not. If you want to be part of a commission or participate in the organization of the hospital, you need to show that you are inside. There are nurses and assistants who go all day with the bow on the lapel, and don’t you dare to tell them what; also some doctors wear it, although less. There are units that are tremendous, such as cardiology, where you have signs, bows and all the paraphernalia 'indepe'. Some of them look like Taliban instead of doctors. I get a lot of discomfort because they imply that all the professionals in the Clinic support the Government and that is a lie. Neither the CCD nor the direction of the hospital represent me", complains Andrés.


If you raise your voice, you can be denied a leave of absence, a permit to take care of a family member or approve a change.


"Unfortunately, we cannot say aloud what we think because we would become stinkers," he continues. "If they know that you are not on the line but do not complain they will not do anything to
you, you will only be removed from the committees. But if you raise your voice, you are exposed to reprisals of all kinds. A leave of absence for three months in The United States, asking for a permit to take care of a family member, approving a change, the very fact that your companions start looking at you badly… The hospital management has a lot of power over the professionals of the Clinic, so none of us dare to protest".


This newspaper contacted the Hospital Clínic to obtain its version of these facts. There was no chance. A responsible assured "not having proof" that political activities are organized in its facilities. It was also not possible to ask the hospital about the alleged resistance fund in favor of Òmnium that was organized by the top brass of the center or the trip to Waterloo that prominent members of the Clinic made months ago to meet Carles Puigdemont and former minister of Health Toni Comín.



Toni Comín (left), today escaped in Belgium, was
the previous minister of Health. (EFE)


A conquest at a slow pace


The conquest of the Clinic has been a slow process that is bearing fruit in this last year and a half of political outbreak. "It began with the restructuring of the patronage, about four or five years ago, and with the staggered arrival of like-minded people to the management positions and the chiefs of the units". These people, as is the case everywhere, surrounded themselves with people like them. And that affinity is demonstrated through the ideology, "says Ana". The video of the other day is the last straw, it gave me fear, even if I know them all. It's all Kafkaesque and we are many here who are tired of this utilization of such a prestigious hospital as a political weapon. They are taking down the future of the Clinic and those of us who work in it. I am tired of hearing in the corridors insults against Spain, of listening to Francoism here and dictatorship over there And the rest of us just to be silent so as not to stand out, as was the case in the Basque Country era".


Santi, on the other hand, has it clear: if today he were to have the opportunity to move to Catalonia to work at the Clínic, as it happened years ago, he would say no. "I came to Catalonia with great enthusiasm, but now I would not recommend it to anybody. What need do you have to complicate your life? You just have to see how many MIRs arrived at the Clinic a few years ago and how many now. I keep staying here because I have family and children in school age, but they have managed to make me feel disregard", he says. The notice that all the staff received in the weeks before the referendum on October 1, in which they were informed that their payroll would automatically begin to be listed in the Tax Agency of Catalonia instead of the Spanish Treasury, is one of the cases that have generated more commotion, although in the end it did not materialize.



The Hospital Clínic is a benchmark in medical
research. (EFE)


"Actually, today I worry more that they could indoctrinate my children in school than what happens in the hospital, because I'm used to it", Santi continues. "In 2017 it was something more uncomfortable and sad, but look, if someone wants now to go to the lobby to claim democracy at 12.00, let him do so". If they want to share the hospital cake and hold meetings in the medical delegates committees, let’s them do it. If they want to put a pin on their lapel as if it were a merit like speaking Basque, let’s them do it. I do not think that a hospital or a school are the best places to make propaganda. Well, if they want to protest, why not do it against all the cuts in health spending decreed by the Generalitat in
recent years, the same cuts as decreed by all the governments of Spain. But since this is a manger in which there is no critical spirit, everyone prefers to remain silent and stay there just to see if something falls".


Santi has ever thought about putting a flag of Spain in his office, but has given up to avoid falling into the same game of provocation. "At least in my case, as they know I do not share with all of this from the beginning, they do not look at me badly, on the contrary, I more than once argue with them and they put up with it".


All the physicians consulted agree on two things: they live the weekly rallies, the posters and the songs of 'Els Segadors' with resignation and fear for their future work. Not for the dismissal, but for the possible degradation of the Clinic as a referral hospital. "I am ashamed of what is going on, it is unpleasant, why patients have to see posters in favor of prisoners or yellow ties, they are playing with the academic and research prestige of the hospital because of their supremacism", Ana complains bitterly.


* All identities have been preserved at the request
of the interviewees in order to avoid labor retaliation.

https://www.elconfidencial.com/espana/cataluna/2019-03-06/hospital-clinic-torra-propaganda-doctores-miedo-hablar_1863554/

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