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I had decided not to write about all the speculation appearing about a Russian plot, with spies in Catalonia and hypothetical exchanges with Catalan authorities about the recognition of Russia's annexation of Crimea in exchange for Putin giving support to Catalonia's independence. However, the fact that acting Spanish minister Josep Borrell has gone as far as raising the issue at the G20 foreign ministers' summit in Nagoya, Japan, suggests that it already has enough of a profile to be the subject of an investigation that seems more akin to comic book detectives Mortadelo and Filemón.

Borrell says that he knows nothing about it, that the whole thing consists of supposedly secret judicial procedures and that all he knows he has read in the press. And his Russian counterpart, Serguei Lavrov, has replied that he doesn't know anything about it either. For Borrell to know nothing about it would not be strange, but for a Russian foreign minister to have no information on it would not fall within the realms of possibility, if it were real. It is not the first time that Spanish authorities have speculated about Russian manoeuvres in relation to the independence cause and even back in 2017, on the eve of the October 1st referendum, Spanish security services were trying to link general Denis Sergueiev, a Russian intelligence veteran, with the activity of the government of Carles Puigdemont.

It continues to surprise how a mention of Moscow can powerfully capture the imagination when narratives about threats to Spanish territorial integrity are being built. One of the problems that the Catalan case has had among the international community of states has been the lack of support for independence. At least, this has been the discourse of the two Spanish governments that have had to deal with the conflict, first under Mariano Rajoy and now with Pedro Sánchez.

Focusing on the possibility of links between Russian intelligence and the Democratic Tsunami protest platform or the holding of the 2017 referendum does, at least, break that narrative of total isolation. It appears the only thing going on is that the authorities are making a wild stab in the dark, at the risk of looking slightly foolish, after several weeks ago the Socialist government solemnly announced in its election campaign, through interior minister Marlaska, that soon there would be important developments and arrests in relation to Tsunami Democràtic. Now, weeks later, Tsunami continues to lead the most significant civil disobedience initiative in recent years.