The Guardia Civil points fingers
After the testimonies we have heard in Spain’s Supreme Court, we might ask: who runs the show in Spain?
In autumn of 2017 the Guardia Civil came to Catalonia to save Spain with their batons. Now they have been summoned to the Supreme Court to finish the job: at present the only thread holding together the charges of rebellion are the reports and statements by Guardia Civil officers.
Their statements contradict those by other witnesses and would have been exposed by video footage of the events, had the court allowed it to be shown in order to contrast their version of events. You get the feeling that the State is using the Guardia Civil to speahead an operation aimed at wiping out the leadership of Catalonia’s independence movement. However, if we are to believe the testimonies of the former members of the PP administration —who, once on the witness stand, knew and recalled nothing— and Pérez de los Cobos himself (1), not only is the Guardia Civil spearheading the operation, but it might also be the driving force behind it.
The fact that an armed force, military in nature, should have such a high profile is bad news for the reputation of Spain’s democracy. The fact that the Guardia Civil is the main actor in a political conflict, that the evidence provided by the prosecution is based almost entirely on their words, is not exactly what you would expect from a dynamic democracy. And after the testimonies we have heard in Spain’s Supreme Court, we might ask: who runs the show in Spain?
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Translator’s note:
(1) Guardia Civil Col. Pérez de los Cobos was appointed to coordinate the efforts of the Spanish police, Guardia Civil and Catalan police during the Catalan referendum on independence in 2017.
