Today, December 28th, is the Dia dels Sants Innocents in Catalonia - the Iberian equivalent of April Fool's Day, a day when people play practical jokes on one another. And it almost looks like Spain's Supreme Court has endeavoured to get into the spirit of the holiday: today, 28th December, the court has informed the Catalan political prisoners that they will not be able to spend the nights of Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day at home with their families.
Four of the jailed pro-independence leaders, Jordi Sànchez, Jordi Turull, Josep Rull, Joaquim Forn and Carme Forcadell, had asked for this leave. The Supreme Court passed their request to the public prosecutors on 21st December to obtain their views, but the prosecutor did not respond until Boxing Day, which in Madrid is not a holiday. And until today, judge Manuel Marchena has not officially advised the prisoners of the decision. Two days after it became irrelevant.
Indeed, the judge states in the resolution that permission cannot be granted because time has run out, aware that the days to which the request applies have already passed. Next time, he tells them, they should make their request earlier, because these things involve legal procedures and take time.