In the last hours, a photograph that shows six youngsters heading towards a demonstration, with each of them draping a flag from their shoulders, has gone viral. Three wear the Spanish flag and three others wear the Catalan independence flag. It is not the only image of these days of student concentrations that would surprise Madrid, since the Internet is full of snapshots obtained in the streets of the cities and towns of Catalonia, where both flags live together with normality. At other times in recent years we have seen similar scenes and they haven't surprised us, because behind the demagogy that is intended only to predispose the greatest possible number of Spanish citizens against Catalonia, there is the reality, which is none other than the indisputable peaceful coexistence of society.
These days that journalists from all over the world are arriving in their hundreds to Catalonia to cover the referendum summoned by the Catalan government on Sunday, this is the festive image that they would have taken away from the streets of our country if everything had passed through the democratic channels of our environment, and not if they [the Spanish government] hadn't opted for police repression and the prohibition of the vote. Supporters of the 'yes' vote and supporters of the 'no' living together in the streets because despite all, democracy rules. Far from all this, the government of Mariano Rajoy has kidnpped this reality, has decreed a state of emergency, has moved more than 10,000 Civil Guard and National Police officers in order to prevent the referendum, and has instructed the Public Prosecutor's Office and the justice system to pursue and prosecute the pro-independence leaders and everything to do with the 1st October referendum. Seeking provocation and increasing the tension. An incident that justifies the excessive police deployment of which the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) have already warned is unnecessary and can only generate irritation.
And this is the great mistake of Mariano Rajoy: believing that there was a margin to return independentism to its pigeonhole. Today it can be anticipated that there will be a very massive turnout at the polling stations. The number of personalities incessantly calling for ballot boxes is a demonstration of the current exceptional circumstances. And there are names that overwhelm politics: the bishop of Solsona, Xavier Novell, the footballer Gerard Piqué, the musician Jordi Savall, the doctor Bonaventura Clotet, and a list that would be endless. Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont, has been strong in the meeting of the Security Board: he will not suspend the referendum. And the Spanish government has now run out of time for a negotiation that it has always refused, and which has been increasingly demanded by the international community. A world that observes it, and that on Thursday put out a serious message in the name of the UN Commission for Human Rights, which has demanded that Spain must respect fundamental rights in Catalonia.
None of this seems to be seen by Madrid, blinded by its ruling class to crush any Catalan demand. Not only that of independence. That is why it was so necessary to take away Catalonia and abduct the Catalans. That is why it is so important that public civility continues to be the main letter of introduction for Catalan demands. On one hand with a smile, and in the other hand a ballot card.