The main objectives of the personal orders Spain's Constitutional Court has sent to the speaker of the Catalan Parliament, Roger Torrent, the institution's Bureau and its secretary general warning them all of the criminal consequences they will face if they carry through any initiative which contradicts the suspended resolution is to block statements by the Catalan chamber ahead of the imminent verdicts from the Supreme Court on the Catalan political prisoners. That's what's suggested by the moment chosen, what's reflected by the petition from Pedro Sánchez's government and what's confirmed by the robustness of the measure. You don't need to be a sharp political analyst to see that the Spanish state's behaviour is somewhat similar to that of October two years ago: pressuring the Mossos d'Esquadra, Catalonia's own police, making them seem in Spain like, above all, a political police force; hamstringing the Catalan Parliament as far as possible in order to prevent it from fulfilling its role as a debate chamber, banning the approval of resolutions; and, finally, presenting the Catalan government as a destabilising body which divides Catalan society and is always on the verge of breaking the law. In this case, they've added the factors of terrorism and Goma-2 as a result of the arrests a few weeks ago.
The warning to the Parliament with the threat of penal consequences is especially important since the Catalan government had said that as soon as the verdicts are released, there will be, at least, two moves made: an institutional declaration by president Quim Torra and a request on his behalf for the Parliament of Catalonia to hold an emergency meeting to be able to take a stance on the response that should be given. Moreover, certainly, a meeting of the Catalan cabinet to armour-plate as much as possible the unity of the two parties in its response. With respect to the Parliament, Junts per Catalulnya, Esquerra Republicana and CUP have been working on a proposal which many political actors consider to be finalised in all but minor loose ends.
In recent hours, the Civil Guard's verbal virulence on Wednesday in the speeches given at its barracks at Sant Andreu de la Barca has left a trace of irritation and enormous concern among the leaders of the independence movement. The fact that a general of the gendarmerie should have starred in the incident that took place, with no consequence whatsoever from civil authorities and with fairly widespread applause from constitutionalist forces, has not gone unnoticed. Whilst the Catalan government has asked for the immediate firing of the senior officer of the Civil Guard in Catalonia, the trickle of statements from leaders of the Spanish state's security forces has continued. The head of the Spanish police in Girona has said they'll always be in Catalonia and professional associations of the Civil Guard have rallied around general Pedro Garrido. And Spanish politicians, starting with PSOE, are willing to get a piece of the action: the Parliament of Castile-La Mancha has unanimously approved a declaration of support for the Civil Guard and the National Police Corps to balance the one approved by the Catalan Parliament.
There are still no verdicts, but positions are being taken.