It must be agreed that at the institutional event held to pay tribute to the victims of Catalonia's 17-A terrorist attack, whether organized well or not so well, the very least deserved response is for the minute of silence to be interrupted. Failing to show respect for the grief and pain of those who were intended to be honoured, denying the victims the support that they have, in fact, often lacked during these five years, was not an option this Wednesday on the Rambla. Supporting them was an ethical and moral obligation. Also an act of courtesy. Contributing to the disruption of the event implies a failure to meet the requirements that must always accompany a public figure, and choosing the wrong day or occasion for such an action is something that cannot be passed off as if it were a minor incident.
There are many of us who have, over these last five years, denounced that the Spanish state has done everything it could to hide the truth of what happened in that tragic attack in which 16 people lost their lives between Barcelona and Cambrils. Starting with the role, never fully explained, of the imam of Ripoll, Abdelbaki Es Satty, a key figure in the preparation of the attack and in the recruitment of terrorists in the town of Ripoll. Es Satty, confidant of Spain's CNI intelligence agency, was protected by the official services and there are many gaps in the investigations. Starting with the role of the Moroccan services who performed a rather deficient autopsy, as has been repeatedly commented.
But the right to demand the truth that has been denied to us has nothing to do, absolutely nothing to do, with disrupting an act of commemoration of the victims. Nor with approaching afterwards to fraternize with those who interrupted it. Nor with applauding an action that only contributes to the degeneration of public space. And when hours later the person hasn't apologised for this, it means that he/she has entered a spiral in which it is difficult for him/her to distinguish right from wrong.
Together for Catalonia's comprehensive statement, dissociating itself from the disruption of the event, reiterating its support for the victims of the attacks, as well as their families, and expressing a strong rejection of the interruption of the minute of silence, sounded like disapproval of its party president, Laura Borràs. The members who represent her on the Junts executive committee immediately realised this, and expressed their displeasure with the party's official position. On the other hand, the immediate attitude of general secretary of the party Jordi Turull, National Council president Josep Rull, and former general secretary Jordi Sànchez distanced the party from any suspicion of wanting to boycott the event.
Winston Churchill said that all men make mistakes, but only wise mean learn from them. These days he would say "men and women", but wouldn't change the meaning of the sentence, obsessed as he was with history being written by the victors. Meanwhile, a thick fog makes it impossible to see the horizon.