French newspaper Le Monde published an article where it stated that in Catalonia, the fight is not only against coronavirus but also against "the Spanish state", with a resurgence of the bid for independence.
"In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, which does not forgive its community, the Catalan pro-independence people are redoubling their attacks against the Spanish government based in Madrid," pointed out the French newspaper.
The newspaper recalls the controversy that took place with the Spanish state shipment of 1,714,000 masks to Catalonia, sparking the declarations of Catalan minister of interior, Miquel Buch, claiming that "The history of Catalonia is not to be played with" criticizing that a mockery was made of 1714, year in which Catalonia lost its independence from the Spanish crown. It also recalls that mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau; leader of Ciudadanos, Lorena Roldán, and Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya’s (ERC) deputy in congress Gabriel Rufián criticised the Catalan minister’s declarations, but "the Spanish government still had to deny any intention of offending the Catalan nationalists".
Le Monde, however, warns that the mask 1714 controversy should not be underestimated, stating this from a unionist perspective. "What might seem like an anecdote, is not. Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in Spain, the Catalan pro-independence people have not missed a single opportunity to attack the "Spanish State", it points out.
"On Thursday, April 16th, the Catalan president, the pro-independence radical Quim Torra (JxCAT), made it clear that Catalonia would have better managed the healthcare crisis, as ‘the small states’ have, had it been independent, . On April 14th, it was ERC’s president, Oriol Junqueras, who, from the prison where the pro-independence leaders condemned for sedition are serving their sentences, defended this same idea", it says.