Let's separate the wheat from the chaff: the Spanish state is taking aim at its third consecutive president of Catalonia. After banning president Artur Mas from public office and president Carles Puigdemont opted for exile in Brussels, after the suspension of Catalonia's institutions of self-government and the repression of her government and political and social leaders, now it's the turn of Quim Torra. The Central Electoral Commission has taken the case of the yellow loops and banners on the government palace to public prosecutors because it believes there are signs of a crime. Specifically, of disobedience. If this position were to end up being consolidated and going to trial, it would very likely lead to Quim Torra's banning from public office.
The Central Electoral Board's need to impose a decision as evidently unfair as the banning of yellow loops, alleging they're political symbols and interfere in the election campaign, remains surprising and utterly exaggerated. The yellow loops are essentially a permanent reminder that there are political prisoners and exiles, the confirmation of a democratic anomaly and an exercise in freedom of expression. The question of whether it was worth it or not to keep them at all costs makes little sense for a government which has decided to only take up low-intensity conflicts with the state. From this, presumably, stems the idea of substituting the banner on the front of the government palace for another reading "Llibertat presos polítics i exiliats; Free political prisoners and exiles", changing the yellow loop for a white one with a red stripe on top and putting a second banner to the left calling for freedom of expression.
The dodge by Torra and, de facto, the whole Catalan government, since the government's ministries became awash with white loops, bothered the Electoral Commission even more. This Thursday, as well as taking the matter to prosecutors, it's ordered the interior minister to, in turn, order the Mossos (Catalan police) to remove banners and loops from official buildings and opened a case file (for a fine of up to 3,000 euros) against president Torra. It's obvious that the Central Electoral Commission was from the beginning, with its gesture of authority (or rather authoritarianism), looking to beat Torra and the government, something which will end up happening in one way or another either because the loops and banners will be removed from different official buildings by the government's own initiative or through the action of the Mossos. And if, in passing, it all ends with the president banned from public office, objective achieved.
That all of this should be over a few loops reveals the fears of a state which only imposes its decisions through legal rulings and police actions. Even taking the matter to the absurd, like now with the white loops. But it should also make the government reflect on the final meaning of fighting its political opponent when there are such divergent internal opinions, unity is notable in its absence and its leadership is so in question.