The rectification by Spain's Court of Accounts to now accept the appeal by the Catalan ministry of economy and validate the surety from the Catalan Institute of Finance (ICF) for 5.4 million euros to cover the civil bail for the foreign affairs spending by the Catalan government between 2011 and 2017, is an important victory in the judicial struggle against the Spanish state's repression of Catalan independence. Probably the first such win over a state institution that has loosened its grip when, up till now, it has marched to the same repressive beat as the Supreme Court and the National Audience. The combination of imagination in designing the bond funding architecture, the technical solidity of all the procedures involved and the persistence of economy minister Jaume Giró in creating the Complementary Risk Fund and weaving together alliances beyond pro-independence forces ―the Spanish government did not object to the fund and the Catalan Socialists abstained in Parliament― made it possible to reach this happy ending with regard to the understandable financial problem that the massive bonds created for the 34 families of former senior government officials in this period, among others the presidents Carles Puigdemont and Artur Mas, former vice-president Oriol Junqueras and ministers Andreu Mas-Colell, Raül Romeva and Francesc Homs.
The path thus opened up will allow politics in Catalonia to be carried out with a certain economic safety net, since the objective is to protect public servants not only in the past but also in the future, something that has not happened until now. As a result, their prosecution was easier, as financial persecution could also be linked to sentences involving jail or bans from holding office. That is the role that will be filled by the Complementary Risk Fund which had to be backed by the ICF after private financial institutions declined to get involved, considering that they should not collaborate with the Catalan economy ministry in an initiative that could be illegal or have a reputational cost for them in Spain. The first of the these objections is now known not to be a problem, as the scheme has overcome all obstacles and even the Court of Accounts has now accepted it, confirming that it was an impeccable legal and political measure. It would not be unreasonable, in this context, for those institutions to reconsider their initial refusal.
With the independence movement very much used to the idea that it will only ever achieve legal victories, when the time comes, at the level of European justice, given that Spain's punitive action is monolithic, this win serves to soften the path along the road of relentless repression. Because it is clear that the Spanish state has not thrown in the towel on the persecution of pro-independence politicians that it began in 2017. Exile, imprisonment, bans from holding office, court cases open and more than 3,000 people having suffered state retaliation: none of these things is an invention. It is the day to day reality of an anomalous situation that will not be resolved until all these aspects are returned to normal. Currently, it is even possible to open the Mobile World Congress with an appearance of normality, but that is it: appearance. Nothing more. No one should get the wrong idea, especially not those who are 600 kilometres away in Madrid, where people always try and see an unreal Catalonia that doesn't exist.
The real Catalonia, even in these times which are difficult for any minimally intelligent person, is an entity that is persecuted and tormented by Josep Borrell. The EU high commissioner on foreign policy, a man who is always ready, at any time, any place and in any circumstance, to make an idiot of himself, could think of nothing better to do in the midst of the nuclear threat in which we find ourselves, and taking advantage of a press conference in Brussels, than to fire what he thought was a poisoned dart at president Carles Puigdemont. With such poor execution and poor fortune that he ended up making a comparison between the Ukrainian president and the exiled Catalan leader, on the one hand, and the Spanish government and Putin, on the other. Beyond that, for Borrell to use the lectern of his European office to allude to his hatred for Puigdemont is yet another example of his non-existent sense of foolishness, of the clumsiness which he employs and the harm he does to the European Union. God save us from Putin, but also from arsonists like Borrell, who should have gone home long ago. The number of mistakes and missteps he makes is anything but normal.