Politics from the 19th Century in Spain

The shameful image that Spain is giving Europe is not that of a “consolidated democracy”, as the Partit Popular and its fellow travellers repeat ad infinitum but one of a territory where even now, in the 21st century people who want to vote peacefully are repressed. To add insult to injury, Mariano Rajoy has passed off the responsibility for what took place with arguments almost too reminiscent of those used by the perpetrators of domestic violence in justifying their actions. Last night, Rajoy made an ominous speech replete with thinly veiled threats. More repression: this is all that the State can propose, when what is needed is a civil response, especially in remembering that Catalonia is one of the powerhouses, if not the most important, in the wellbeing of the Spanish State.

Catalonia is where it is now because it has defended its rights peacefully, a value that we must conserve now more than ever; because peace is what gives us our essence and our strength. Catalonia is the 21st century, while there are many politicians, such as Rajoy, who seem more comfortable in making use of political practises from the 19th century. They are the biggest problem in Spain, which can not consider itself to truly be part of the consolidated democracies until they have left.