"In Europe, people are seeing Spain as a 'banana' state". This is what journalist John Carlin has concluded from conversations with British journalists and politicians in recent days, he has explained to Basque Country broadcaster, Radio Euskadi.
Carlin explains that people are conveying to him the impression that Spain's leaders are "making fools of themselves" in their persecution of Carles Puigdemont and in their management of the political crisis in Catalonia. People think that the authorities have "gone crazy", says Carlin. "They see Spain as having gone backwards, returning to the status of a banana republic". The actual term Carlin used in Spanish was estado bananero, since Spain is not a republic, but the British writer was referring to the well-known expression used to characterise politically-unstable countries with poor democratic records.
Moreover, Carlin added there is "a grotesque disproportion between what happened in Catalonia and the jail sentences that are being demanded for the Catalan politicians", and he also defended the role of Manchester City football coach Pep Guardiola in standing up for the Catalan prisoners.
Finally, John Carlin admitted that he sees "the possibility of reaching a civilized outcome as very difficult. Seeds of resentment are being sown".
Last October, when the Catalan referendum controversy began, the journalist was sacked from his long-time role as a writer for Spain's El País newspaper, where he published two weekly columns, one on football and another including political issues. Carlin held a position which diverged from the Madrid newspaper's strong political line with respect to the Catalan conflict.