Writer John Carlin is a man who gets passionate about both politics and sport - and this Saturday he talked to Catalunya Ràdio about a week in which a major sporting event and political developments got all mixed up. To the point that, as Carlin explained, last Thursday's EU court ruling on the immunity of jailed Oriol Junqueras as an MEP "almost felt like a response to the 'free political prisoners' chants" he had heard at the Barça-Real Madrid match the previous night.
He went to the football classic between Barça and Real Madrid on Wednesday night and described it as "pretty depressing" in terms of the action on the pitch (finishing as a nil-all draw), but where it was interesting "was in the stands", with the unknown quantity of what the Tsunami Democràtic protest platform would do.
Carlin, who reported on the end of apartheid in South Africa in the 1990s and became a friend of Nelson Mandela, was critical of people who dismissed the Tsunami actions at the Barça-Madrid match as pointless protest. "What people in the stands were chanting the most was "Freedom for the political prisoners", noted Carlin. "And the next day, it was as if they had been proved right" when the EU court ruled that Junqueras had been unjustly jailed. "It was the very next morning, almost as if they were responding to the chants of the Barça fans."
Speaking about the court ruling, the Anglo-Spanish writer commented that "once again, it’s been shown that the darkness in the Spanish state resides in the justice system". The journalist also believes that the immunity ruling on Junqueras has been another demonstration of the distance between the Spanish judicial system and those of the rest of Europe.
Carlin said that "while he was no expert on the details", his feeling was that the EU court ruling could send the negotiations on a new Spanish government into crisis - but it could also be a huge opportunity.