Spanish police charge protesters after removing the voting ballots located in Ramon Llull, a Barcelona school, October, 2017. El Diario. All rights reserved.
One year has passed since the Spanish police intervened on Catalan territory. People of all ages defending the voting ballots were dragged, beaten up and sometimes fined – not very differently from how other protesters are usually silenced in demonstrations. Yet, this time, the manifold symbolic impact of repression has unleashed very strong reactions all over Spain.
The historical conflicts between Spain and Catalonia, never solved or settled, have re-emerged. For those who have lived under the dictatorships of the past century, it was hard to look away. In fact, it’s hard to explain to non-locals the true dimension of this phenomenon and how it is making a re-appearance today. This piece can’t go in detail about this, but one anecdote may serve. Together, the two new parties that have emerged during recent years create the feeling that history is repeating itself. The leader of the left-wing party Podemos is called Pablo Iglesias, that is to say, the same name as the now decadent ex-left-wing socialist party PSOE. At the other end of the spectrum, the leader of the newly created right-wing party Ciudadanos is Albert Rivera, who’s last name is the same as that of the famous Spanish fascist Primo de Rivera.
