(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
[Ny Tid regrets that this article in the printed edition was given the wrong last name, so it looked like it was Morgenbladet's journalist Emma Tollersrud, who had written it.] The case is also somewhat edited, and here added clickable sources, by print.]
Barcelona is a mecca for art, culture, nightlife – and nature. But Catalunya's capital is also the scene of political drama – and, as we saw recently, terror. Since Franco's death in 1975, the Catalans have been very conscious of their own identity, and many of them want independence from the Spanish crown. In recent years, the demand for independence has become official policy in the region, something that the Madrid government has not looked at with wide eyes. The question is how far the Spanish authorities are willing to go to prevent Catalan autonomy.
Referendum. After the terrorist attack on La Rambla in Barcelona 17. August 2017, many people have been skeptical about the Spanish media's presentation of the case. The newspapers commented on the Catalan politicians' lack of grip on the situation and almost accused them of the incident. On the other hand, questions are being raised about the role of the Spanish government as a whole. Critical voices even claim that the action was orchestrated from Madrid; IS may have blamed the blame for the attack, but the real backers may well have a more local affiliation than the Middle East's best-known terrorist group.
But why should anyone claim that the Spaniards have staged an attack on their own territory? Well, maybe to avoid Catalunya falling into the hands of the Catalans, who are preparing for the referendum on independence on October 1. It is no surprise that it is in the Spanish government's interest to stick the wheels of the Catalan liberation process. Therefore, it is asked whether it is not just a way to do this by exposing the "incompetence" of the Catalans in a dramatic situation involving life, thus "proving" that the Catalans are not ripe for self-government. In this way, the Madrid government could have intimidated the people – both Catalan and Spanish – to seek refuge under the wings of the strong nation-state, and reject all ideas of splitting the federation. All in all, a simple victory for the capital, according to some.
Critical voices claim that the terrorist attack was orchestrated from Madrid.
Conspiratorial, but… In other words, the state must do something to convince the population that the Catalan government is so engrossed in the struggle for independence that it is unable to respond effectively and professionally enough when needed. The attack on La Rambla is said to have been much larger, but the terrorists had accidentally blown up the house where they stored the explosives in the air and thus had to shelve plans to use bombs. Had the attack been of such magnitude, Madrid would certainly have used the army to control the streets, including in Catalonia. And who would be able to oppose them? It would almost have been required. And suddenly Madrid had de facto control of the Catalans.
Such a hypothesis put forward by some here would appear very conspiratorial ahead of the events in August. But after the attack and its aftermath, there are several factors worth noting. The newspaper El País came out on Twitter strangely quickly – an hour after the attack – with the news that the Mosso – the Catalan police forces – had received information from the CIA about an upcoming jihadist attack already in June. This was quickly picked up by all the other Spanish media, and reproduced without much emphasis on source use. The fact that the adviser to the Catalan Interior Ministry, Joaquín Forn, denied that such communication with the CIA had taken place was ignored. The whole thing was used by the media, which acts as the mouthpiece of the Spanish regime, to point out that the Catalans were unprofessional and thus unable to guarantee the safety of the inhabitants and tourists.
Ridiculed and sabotaged. El País also commented that the attack unfortunately coincided with a "confused time" in Catalan politics, and called for this to be a wake-up call for the Catalan authorities so that they could put an end to their opportunistic policies. In short, one of the country's largest newspapers tried to put a political movement for autonomy and an attack from IS in context, in line with the way Madrid wanted to present the case.
The Catalan police, for their part, were ridiculed for not cooperating with Madrid. In reality, it was the opposite: Madrid had boycotted Catalunya since June, in the sense that they had denied Mossos access to the database from Interpol, such as the Basque police forces. This obviously led to complications in the Catalans' investigation into a possible attack.
In June, the Catalan government also tried to create 500 new police posts – but the Spanish government made sure to sabotage this with the help of the Ministry of Finance. Again, the media tried to blackmail the Catalans by claiming that their so-called lack of cooperation was due to the separatist movement – as if the desire to leave Spain would prevent their police forces from doing their job. On the contrary, Mossos was of the opinion that Madrid used the question of police work as a political weapon, and thus endangered the population. In addition, the Catalunya police were not included in the emergency meeting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy convened until the day after the attack – while representatives from both the national police and the Guardia Civil – Spanish traditional paramilitary orienteringthe meetings of Mossos.
The Catalans smelled foul and now accuse the regime of being complicit in terrorism.
National day of Catalonia. Many also believe that the time and place of the assassination is suspicious. Barcelona, the city that in February this year organized one of the largest demonstrations in favor of refugees ever, is not really an obvious target for IS 'terrorism. Mayor Ada Colau himself has taken the lead and officially declared Barcelona a city of refugee solidarity. On the other hand, it is Madrid that at the national level has set foot on larger refugee quotas.
The time of the attack is, incidentally, surprisingly well calculated; just one and a half months before the referendum on independence is scheduled to take place, a vote the Catalan government will conduct unilaterally if necessary. But not only that, because before that time is celebrated National day of Catalonia, Catalans' National Day, 11 September. Over the years, La Diada has increasingly been used to show political muscle. In 2016, more than 600 people took part in demonstrations for Catalan independence. A deadly attack in the middle of Barcelona's parade street three weeks before the national day could perhaps put a damper on this year's party. Especially if the authorities in Madrid had decided to impose a state of emergency.
No tink por. As we know, the terrorist attack did not go according to plan. Without bomb blasts, the army would not be deployed. And if the Spanish state wanted to prove itself the strong leader, then where was its supreme official? Only seven hours after the incident, Prime Minister Rajoy managed to get away with giving a kind of official speech to the people. And two days after the assassination, many were dissatisfied that King Felipe appeared in Barcelona to attend the memorial service; not many Catalans believe that the king represents them.
But national and international media gave wide coverage to the demonstration on August 26 and the slogan "No tinc por" ("I am not afraid"), few zoomed in on the over 2000 protesters who had turned up early with other posters – with statements such as "Felipe, we want peace, not arms sales" and "Their policy, our dead". Instead of being intimidated, it seems that parts of the population smelled foul and now accuse the regime of being complicit in terrorism. Whether it really includes attacks at home, time will probably tell.
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(The editors state:
In this case, the writer has sought out people in Barcelona for information, as well as found sources in newspaper articles. Blue.:
http://www.publico.es/politica/abismo-gobierno-generalitat-llega-lucha-antiyihadista.html
http://www.elpuntavui.cat/societat/article/5-societat/1173995-eurocop-alerta-que-l-exclusio-dels-mossos-d-europol-pot-comprometre-la-seguretat-de-tota-europa.html
http://www.elnacional.cat/es/sociedad/pais-mundo-editorial-atentado-barcelona-independencia_183534_102.html
Reference is often made to a case in 2014-2015, in which Mossos reported the Spanish police for warning a terrorist cell in Catalonia if they were under investigation. It turned out that one of the people in this cell was a Spanish neo-Nazi, who by the way is still politically active. But the case was dropped by the Spanish court.
http://www.20minutos.es/noticia/2460104/0/denuncia-mossos/policia-filtracion/operacion-antiyihadista/#xtor=AD-15&xts=467263#xtor=AD-15&xts=467263
http://www.publico.es/politica/terrorismo-catalunya-policias-nacionales-alertaron-yihadistas-2015-mossos-investigaban.html
