Photo by Antón Castro Orginally published in Spanish: “El golpe que mostró que el Estado se defiende y que además le gusta a muchos catalanes”. Ramón González Férriz. El Confidencial 6th May 2018 The Catalan secessionist procés [TN: Catalan for ‘process’] has been the greatest challenge so far to modern Spanish democracy. But aside from a […]
Etiqueta: El Confidencial
A Catalan Cultural Autobiography: The End of a Hegemony that seemed Indestructible
Originally published in Spanish: “Autobiografía cultural catalana: El fin de una hegemonía que parecía indestructible”. Ramón González Férriz. El Confidencial. In my formative years in Catalonia —the 80’s and 90’s— a cultural hegemony apparently indestructible reigned. It was the result of an unstable yet functional coalition between nationalism and progressivism. Nationalism was committed to ensure […]
The Eternal Process
Originally published in Spanish. Ignacio Varela. El Confidencial. “WE, the democratic representatives of the people of Catalonia, in the free exercise of the right of self-determination. CONSTITUTE the Catalan Republic, as an independent and sovereign State. ENTER into force the Foundational and Legal Transition Law of the Republic. INITIATE the constituent process. AFFIRM the desire to open negotiations with Spain. […]
Foucault in Teheran: Revolution Makes Strange Bedfellows
Originally published in Spanish. Ramón González Férriz. El Confidencial. The consideration of any imaginable alternative as a better scenario than the real, present one is a constant feature of human psychology. Interestingly, so is the opposite —preferring the mediocre certainty of the present to the uncertainty of breaking its balance—. In political terms, the former […]
Don’t exaggerate, your Majesty
Published originally in Spanish. Manuel Cruz. El Confidencial A common view in Catalan public opinion is to classify as excessive any initiative coming from Madrid that questions the Govern decisions at any level “Do not exaggerate, your Honor” was the sentence, already famous, with which agents from Mossos d´Esquadra replied to the head of the […]
Non esageri, Maestà
Originale: “No exagere, majestad”. Manuel Cruz. El Confidencial Un atteggiamento diffuso tra l’opinione pubblica catalana è quello di definire eccessiva ogni iniziativa di Madrid che metta in discussione le decisioni del Govern a qualsiasi livello. “Non esageri, signoria” è la frase, già divenuta famosa, con la quale gli agenti dei Mossos d’Esquadra (NdT: polizia regionale […]
Catalonia, after St Crispin’s Day: the heroes of the blunder
Published originally in Spanish. Ramón González Férriz. El Confidencial. In the world, foolishness and blunder are far more common than coldly calculated evil, not to mention heroism. Life has more to do with that what happens in a comic of “Mortadelo and Filemón” than with the great feats which take place on the movie “Braveheart”. […]
The Ten Lies of the Rigged Referendum
Published originally in Spanish. Ignacio Varela. El Confidencial. Speaking to someone who had a long experience on international monitoring of electoral processes, I asked what an observer committee (of the European Parliament, for example) would do if it were requested to inspect the intended referendum of the October 1st in its current status. The answer […]
Les dix pièges du hold-up électoral
Publié à l’origine en espagnol. Ignacio Varela. El Confidencial. Personne ne peut prévoir ce qui se passera en Catalogne, mais nous sommes certains d’une chose : il n’y a pas de vote pouvant être admis et homologué comme correct démocratiquement. En conversant avec une personne jouissant d’une longue expérience dans la supervision internationale des processus […]