On Wednesday in the Congress of Deputies, prime minister Pedro Sánchez gave a voice to the strategy employed by the deep state since the night of the February 14th elections: the pro-independence bloc didn't win the elections with nearly 52% of the vote, but rather has gone backwards since the previous date with the polls in 2017, as many voters who cast a ballot on that occasion abstained this time around. As leaders do in certain types of country, Sánchez denied something acknowledged by the entire international press, when it unanimously reported the milestone that the Catalan independence movement has, for the first time, won more than 50% of the votes cast. How does Sánchez argue his case then? Very simple, not based on the votes cast but on the electoral roll, and since there was a sharp drop in turnout of about 25 points - from 79.09% to 53.54% - the absolute percentage of the roll who voted has fallen, as cannot be otherwise.
In the world of fake news, Sánchez has starred in a few real clangers. But until now he had not reached the point of questioning election results by falsifying reality. I understand that this explanation is what Spanish embassies abroad must be giving to the media when they are asked. In this context, I am not surprised by the image of Spain abroad; now, it is even reinterpreting reality. Perhaps it is also a consequence that in this election another myth has been demolished: the one that said that Mariano Rajoy and his inaction were the perfect machine for creating Catalan independence supporters. That's not true either. Pedro Sánchez has converted himself into an even more finely-tuned machine that has facilitated a jump by many people to pro-independence positions.
And it has an explanation. Rajoy was "no to everything". But Sánchez is also no to everything. With an additional aggravation: the first did not hide where he stood, while the second plays the game of saying "yes" before always ending up in the "no". It’s much more humiliating, as he first entangles you and then abandons you. The former defended the monarchy when he rushed to take action after October 1st 2017, and the latter did the same. Now, with Sánchez in government, he even defends a monarchy tainted with corruption cases, with a fugitive king emeritus and, in addition, he brings the far-right Vox into the equation to support the regime of '78, to avoid commissions of 'inquiry' or to try to bring Puigdemont to Spain as a prisoner through an immunity request to the European Parliament.
It is obvious that Catalan elections go badly for them permanently, even though they have help from the referee, who calls the vote at a time that suits them best. Catalan voters are stubborn and so is the pro-independence majority. The years go by and what they used to call a soufflé has ended up as a concrete wall. And no matter how much they deny the reality, there is a pro-independence vote of almost 52% that will surely form a pro-independence government no matter how much interference there may be. Above all, because neither of the two main parties, neither ERC nor Junts, will be able to ignore the reality in which they have lived. And Sánchez will be able to go on preaching one lie after another to deceive the troops. There is none so blind as the one who refuses to see: the years go by and the independence supporters are still there, not willing to take a single step back.