The daughter of Catalan government minister Joaquim Forn needed medical assistance on Tuesday as a result of harassment from far-right unionists who targeted her father on his arrival at Barcelona Airport. She explained what happened in a letter published on her Instagram account.
Translation of Instagram letter:
I publish this to denounce what happened and to express my consternation and, especially, my sorrow after the events yesterday evening at Barcelona-El Prat airport. I am aware that people who will read this may have different ideologies and political positionings, more so with the current political situation in Catalonia. I am also conscious of the dehumanization that political representatives receive, but today I give a different view of one of the many regrettable facts that have taken place in this process.
As a daughter of one of these politicians, I constantly receive criticisms and at the same time positive messages. However, until yesterday, nobody had harassed, insulted or directly attacked me or my family. A group of extremists were awaiting the arrival of the two Catalan ministers who came back from Brussels, without bodyguards, to jeer them and do them harm. Both the ministers and those of us who were waiting for them, received pushes and knocks from people who hold different views and acted without worrying about the consequences.
What I also find intolerable is that among the aggressors there were journalists who did not show any kind of consideration towards us, it seems that to get a photo it's okay to knock people with your camera, push them around and stand on their feet. I regret that today the profession has received this black mark. I needed medical assistance and I am still as distressed as I was yesterday. Yesterday I experienced in my own skin what the dehumanization of our representatives means and I wanted to explain this experience.
Let's not forget that all those who have led the government are, as well as public representatives, also fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, children and partners. If we as a society do not condemn these actions we are lost."
The Catalan minister's daughter wrote this response, referring to the far-right unionists who on Tuesday night went to Barcelona airport to harass two Catalan government ministers, her father, Interior minister Joaquim Forn along with Employment minister Dolors Bassa. They had come back from Brussels, where they had accompanied Catalan president Puigdemont; in the broader context of the Spanish government's takeover of Catalan institutions under article 155 of the constitution, simultaneous with the declaration of the Catalan Republic.