All the anxieties and uncertainties of the day are worth it, if one thing is made clear to all: in the debate between Catalonia and Spain there is a side that wishes to talk and a side which rejects any possibility of dialogue, one which wishes to impose its solution, and which will only accept surrender as an answer.
The alleged proponents of a middle way, who called for compromise on one side only, arguing that in doing so a positive response would come from the other side, have all been proven wrong. President Puigdemont waited to the last moment and beyond, playing his hand in a way that worried and alarmed many. But even that didn’t work. The goal of 155 is not to return to where we were, what they refer to as ‘restoring legality’, but to take us to a new place, to take a step backwards.
The often excessive attempts to ease the tension have come from one side alone. For Spain, calling a halt to Article 155 was a very cheap price to pay, in exchange for snap regional elections. There were many more demands that could have been made: freedom for the prisoners, the start of negotiations, the lifting of the state of siege. As it turns out, the bare minimum was not accepted. It is clear, then. The independence movement has already made every sacrifice at its disposal, with no response. It now has its hands free. It won’t prevent it from suffering or from needing to endure. But it makes its case all the more solid.
