Long jail terms for Catalonia leaders spark fears of renewed chaos

There were celebrations and optimism among Catalan separatists in April after a party committed to independence came out on top in the region in national elections for the first time since the end of Franco and the return of democracy to Spain.

Not only was Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC) victorious in Catalonia, but the Socialist Party, less hostile to their cause than the previous centre-right government of Mariano Rajoy, had benefited from a strong swing across the country.

Things appeared to be moving forward from the bitter acrimony which had followed the referendum in the autumn of 2017, when Madrid sent the Guardia Civil to put down protests with punitive violence and the arrest of separatist leaders. There was even talk of an alliance between the socialists. ERC assembly representative Gabriel Rufian called for a new start, urging the Socialist government of Pedro Sanchez to “bring politics back to this political conflict and remove judicial robes and police batons”.

But, five months on, there has been no significant political progress on the question of Catalan separatism. There has been no pact and the government has ruled out a fresh referendum. And on Monday morning, the Supreme Court in Madrid handed lengthy prison sentences to nine of the detained Catalonian leaders for up to 13 years each, with Oriel Junqueras of the ERC, the former Catalan vice-president and the highest ranking official in the trial, among those receiving the maximum term.

Although the public strife of two years ago has not been repeated, the Catalan “Committees for the Defence of the Republic” (CDR) has vowed direct action, including the blocking of roads and railway lines. Just over a week ago, nine members of the CDR were arrested, and seven of them charged with belonging to a terrorist organisation, allegedly possessing explosives – and with the ultimate aim of targeting the infrastructure system.

Following the sentencing on Monday, CDR tweeted: “It is time to rise up against the authoritarian fascism of the Spanish state and its accomplices. It is time for the #PopularRevolt.”

There was disquiet across Catalan society. Barcelona Football Club tweeted: “Prison is not the solution. The resolution of the conflict in Catalonia must come exclusively from political dialogue.”

The trial in Madrid – which had lasted four months with 422 witnesses appearing – cleared the defendants of acts of violent rebellion, carrying sentences of up to 25 years, and found them guilty of the lesser charges of sedition and misuse of public funds.

But that did not assuage anger. Demonstrations began in Barcelona soon after the news broke from the court. Police were deployed to the city’s key junctions, the airport and Sants railway station, as well as some outlying towns.

Sanchez, the acting prime minister, took a robust line, stressing his government backed the court’s decision and declaring that “nobody is above the law. In a democracy like Spain nobody is subject to trial for his or her ideas or politics but rather for criminal conduct as provided by the law.” The independence movement, he charged, had ignored the constitution and fractured Catalan society.

The Catalan national assembly has called for action not just in Catalonia and Spain but “mobilisations around the globe” with appeals for popular support from other European states, including the UK, France and Germany.

Carles Puigdemont, the former Catalan president who had avoided the same fate as his colleagues by leaving Spain just before being arrested, described the jailing of the leaders for “100 years in total” as “an atrocity”.

He said on Twitter that “now more than ever ... it is time to react like never before ... For the future of our sons and daughters. For democracy. For Europe. For Catalonia.”

Yet Puigdemont’s own conduct illustrated the weaknesses and divisions in the separatist movement. Having instigated the referendum and the inevitable standoff with Madrid that followed, he flew to Brussels rather than take up his post.

Those of us covering events on the ground at the time recall firstly the disappointment in Barcelona after he disappeared, which gradually turned to resentment as other leaders who had stayed behind were being arrested.

The head of the Catalan regional police, Josep Lluis Trapero, was sacked for refusing orders from Madrid to stop the voting in the referendum, and eight offices of the force raided by the Guardia Civil.

The Catalan president, meanwhile, was organising a summit in Belgium on how he would return to Catalonia and take up his position as the head of Europe’s newest state. Those attending went to the Ghent opera house for a performance of the Duke of Alba before the meeting got under way. But any inspiration Puigdemont and his advisers may have drawn from the tale of the 16th century Spanish general’s brutal reign in Flanders ending ultimately in defeat did not result in him returning.

One waits to see what happens now. Sanchez stated that he will “work in the coming days to guarantee public order and protect our democratic laws as it has always done, responding proportionally to any violations of the law. The government will continue to work to repair the fracture created by the separatist movement.” The acting prime minister also called for dialogue with the separatists. The ERC responded that this would not be possible without an “amnesty” for “political prisoners and those in exile”.

Elections are scheduled for 10 November. More immediately, demonstrators will march from five towns to Barcelona where they will meet on Friday, when a general strike has been called. Further protests, say organisers, will continue until the imprisoned leaders get “justice.”

There is apprehension that the violence of two years ago may be revisited. The chaotic scenes, especially of state violence, taking place in Europe, in a city like Barcelona, were shocking for many. On the day the Catalan officials were jailed, the Spanish government launched a PR campaign. The acting prime minister tweeted: “Spain is a consolidated democracy. It’s one of the most advanced rules of law in the world and one of the most free and safe countries. This is the real Spain. We´ve done it together, citizens and institutions. Based on coexistence, respect and the law.”

But Catalans, as well as other Spaniards, pointed out during the strife of 2017 that bitter reminders from history continue to cast a dark shadow on the country.

The Day of the Dead was being commemorated at that time. Friends and relations had gathered together to lay flowers and light candles on the graves of their departed, as is the custom. The thought of many at the time however, was not of just the past, but what lay ahead in an uncertain future.

The Garrigo family had come to the cemetery on the slope of the Montjuic hills to pay their respect to their grandfather who was killed in a battle at Terrasa in Spain’s civil war – one among the thousands who sacrificed their lives trying to save Barcelona from the advancing forces of General Franco.

Vincenc Garrigo, a 24-year-old engineer, trade unionist and volunteer soldier was killed in a mortar barrage. His grandson Jaume reflected: “I have read his letters to my grandmother, what they all went through at the time, and I feel very proud. That was a time of war when people had to stand up to the dictators; to Franco, Hitler and Mussolini. People at home also suffered very much as well – often they had no heating, little food, little water, but they didn’t give up.

“So we are used to hardship in Catalonia, used to standing up for our rights. This struggle for independence, for real autonomy which means something, will not end. What happens will depend on whether the government in Madrid wants to have proper dialogue or they think they can win by confrontation. We are not going to give up.”