In no country in our European neighbourhood have actions by the military been as important as they have been in Spain in putting an end to periods of democratic rule. Those of us of a certain age remember very well what people called the rattling of sabres after the death of the dictator Francisco Franco and during the beginning of the transition, which more or less continued intermittently until the attempted military coup of 23rd February 1981. The message from the barracks was always the same: the fear of having autonomous governments in Catalonia and the Basque Country, the danger of the disintegration of Spain and an excess of power held by the left, which at that time meant the Spanish Communist Party (PCE). Certainly, the 23-F coup short-circuited intentions to bring the military into government. But the very structure of that deactivated coup served to make the political parties renounce a series of options which over the years meant that any thorough reform of the state was effectively blocked. Whether of the judiciary, the autonomous communities or, above all, the military.
There was a lot of cosmetic politics carried out, and we came to think that we were like France, Germany or the UK. But Covid-19 has put the state in front of the mirror: we are poorer than they are and therefore in worse shape when it comes to helping our citizens; and as well, the quality of our democracy is not comparable, as certified by different international studies.
If the penultimate reflection of this had to do with the world of the senior judiciary, which for some time has become the state power that, through its agenda, influences all the other powers in Spain, the latest incident is centred on a group of several dozen retired military personnel in different ranks of the army and air force initiating manifestos against the Spanish government (and the possible pardon of pro-independence prisoners, such as the one which emerged on Thursday), which are either addressed to king Felipe VI, or share with him a letter they have drawn up. There is also the creation of a WhatsApp group called La XIX del Aire that brings together retired commanders who graduated in the same year from the Air Force Academy, suggesting such brilliant ideas as the shooting of 26 million people - attributed to reserve army general Francisco Beca Casanova - the encouragement of a coup d'etat or the bombing of the headquarters of the Catalan National Assembly (ANC).
The Spanish minister of defence, Margarita Robles, has placed the military chat in the hands of the public prosecutors to decide whether they deem it appropriate to act, and former minister José Bono has referred to them as a group of deranged fascists. After several days of public controversy, the Community of Madrid's prosecutors have requested information from the defence ministry and we shall see what comes of it. Luckily, a lot of water has flowed under the bridge since the 1970s and such movements in military barracks are not what they used to be. However, this free rein to display anti-democratic behaviour, to which certain sectors in Spain seem to think they are entitled, is extremely worrying. We saw it here with the police violence of the referendum of October 1st, with the judicialization of political life and the repression which has been practiced in Catalonia.
Now they are no longer limited to pseudonymous Twitter accounts, biased police reports and Catalonia operations. Dozens of officers from the military reserve come out with thoroughly disgraceful comments and there are those who think that this can be solved with a telling-off. And meanwhile, German chancellor Merkel has approved a package of 89 measures to combat the far right within the concept of defensive or militant democracy, proving once again that it is perfectly compatible to be on the right and also to fight the far right. Something that the Popular Party and Ciudadanos do not seem to be very clear about.