36 Time November 4, 2019
TheView
^
Separatists
in Barcelona
light up their
cell phones
at an Oct. 20
protestWORLD
Dear Spain, let’s talk
about Catalonia’s future
By Carles Puigdemont i Casamaj—
the will of more than a million voters.
This is not a crisis that can be swept
under the carpet any longer. The value
we attach to the vote is at stake, the
value of the will of the people as the
basis of the European way of life.
I am often asked why I think the
Spanish state systematically refuses to
meet us to discuss and find a political
solution to the conflict. Why, they ask,
is there so much hostility toward our
movement in Spain as a whole? To me,
it is because in the mind-set of Span-
ish politicians, resolving the problem
means eliminating it— whether by im-
prisoning its leaders or intimidating its
supporters. The idea of recognizing the
other party’s point of view and reach-
ing compromises is com-
pletely alien to Spanish
political culture, which is
influenced by the weight
of the colonial empire
that spread around the
globe through violence
and extermination. Com-
promise is seen as syn-
onymous with cowardice.
Empires do not concede;
they impose conditions.
You can see this mind-
set in Spain’s inability to
form coalition govern-
ments. On Nov. 10, the
country will head to the
polls for the fourth national
elections in four years, all because of its
politicians’ inability to concede, adjust
their positions or build alliances. The
system is incapable of coming together to
ensure political and economic stability.
But now it is more urgent than ever
before that the Madrid government sit
down and talk. Prime Minister Pedro
Sánchez has to pull his head out of the
sand and deal with reality, even if it is a
reality he does not like. Sentencing peo-
ple to 13 years in prison, using repres-
sion as the only method of response and
assigning the work of politicians to the
courts has already proved not to work
over the past two years. Their remedy
has proved far worse than the illness.
I ask Prime Minister Sánchez to sit
down and talk.Puigdemont i Casamajó is a former presi-
dent of Catalonia’s regional governmentFrancesc Pujols, one oF The lasT cenTury’s mosT
renowned Catalan philosophers, said, “Catalan thought will
always grow anew and survive those who would foolishly
bury it.” It still rings true today.
Two years after Spain began a campaign of repression
against the Catalan pro-independence movement, the resur-
gence of protests and civil- disobedience actions has been
overwhelming. In Barcelona, tens of thousands took to the
streets after the Supreme Court sentenced nine people, some
for up to 13 years, on Oct. 14 for their roles in organizing a
vote for Catalan self- determination against the wishes of the
Spanish government.
No, the Catalan inde-
pendence movement was
not just a flash in the pan.
It has not been quashed,
as claimed by those in the
government who seek to
bury it. The movement
has always existed and
will exist until the political
conflict is resolved.
The reaction to the
convictions is impossible
to understand for those
who still ascribe to the
belief that the referendum
held in October 2017 is
a “crime” punishable
by harsher sentences than those given for manslaughter.
But surely no society would stand in solidarity with the
masterminds behind such a crime, or revolt over a fair
sentence. The people know the sentence is not fair and those
convicted are guilty of no crime.
The crisis ThaT we are experiencing is not regional
or internal, but international. It affects a Europe that has so
far remained silent in the face of violations of human rights
committed by an E.U. member state. For the first time ever in
modern Europe, members of a legitimately elected govern-
ment and parliament have been imprisoned because of their
political decisions. The damage to fundamental European val-
ues, which have always been based on the will of the people,
may be irreversible.
For the past two years, I have been living in exile in Belgium.
I now face a third arrest and extradition warrant for my role
in the independence vote, after the first two were withdrawn
by Spain. I have brought a claim to the European Court of Jus-
tice based on my rights as a Member of the European Parlia-
ment. Yet the Spanish state refuses to formally notify the Euro-
pean Parliament of my election in Catalonia in May, ignoring