The decision by Madrid's mayor, Manuela Carmena, to not go to the inauguration of the ARCO contemporary art festival in protest over the withdrawal of a work by artist Santiago Sierra entitled Political prisoners in contemporary Spain is a very unusual gesture in the world of politics. Surely, only a person of her professional and personal maturity who combines a long career as a lawyer closely associated to democratic claims during the Franco era, with being a recipient of the National Human Rights prize, a former judge and many other things, can have sufficient perspective and value gestures correctly. Because, on occasion, that's what politics is: a gesture at a given moment, however uncomfortable or misunderstood it may be, and not the wait for the next election (by the way, her latest rating, 57.7 points out of 100, is one many politicians would like). It must be very important for a mayor to inaugurate an international event like ARCO alongside the monarchs instead of being the focus of all the criticisms for what's been interpreted as a snub of the royals. But if that's on one side of the scales, on the other is something certainly no less important: the defence of freedom of creation, of expression and of exhibition.
The New York Times said this Thursday, considering the withdrawal of the work from ARCO which included photos of three of the four Catalan political prisoners in Soto del Real and Estremera, that there are mounting risks for freedom of expression in Spain. It's not normal for a real international newspaper to echo the loss of fundamental rights in a Western country. Neither is it so normal for Amnesty International to accuse a state, in this case Spain, of repeatedly violating basic human rights, as in Catalonia over the last year. Carmen is a voice in Spain's institutional desert shouting fearlessly about the loss of rights and for the release from prison of the 'Jordis', Junqueras and Forn. And yes, with her dignity, she receives the slaps and criticisms of all those who were in ARCO, starting with the media who had stands at the fair: the newspapers El País, El Mundo and ABC, who received visits from the royal party.
Choosing well what decision to adopt and correctly interpreting the will of the people isn't an easy job, nor a comfortable one. Inertia is always in favour of leaving things as they are, although they aren't as they were. This is going to be a very important debate over coming years. What's the right level when expressing a protest? The mayor of Girona, Marta Madrenas, has announced that she won't attend events which representatives of the royal family or the central government's delegation to Catalonia are taking part in or where there is a presence from Spain's Civil Guard or National Police Corps and she has broke off formal relations. It's not a minor decision because her city sees the annual ceremony awarding the Princess of Girona awards. All this, she says "for institutional dignity".
Similarly, ERC's leader in Barcelona city council, Alfred Bosch, has announced that he won't be present on Sunday at the inaugural dinner for the Mobile World Conference, which the monarchs will preside over, as he doesn't want to share a table "with the person who symbolises the repression of the people of Catalonia". On the other hand, Xavier Trias, former mayor and head of the opposition, has said that he does plan to attend, but will do so wearing a yellow loop, the symbol of support for the political prisoners. The head of Bosch's party, Oriol Junqueras, is in Estremera prison. Trias's former first deputy mayor, Joaquim Forn, is in the same prison. Gestures. Never innocuous. Doubtlessly, it's one way to do politics.