Good actors and actresses say that the best course of action is to get into the character. The very best are able to give it credibility. How difficult is when, without being a professional actor, what you support are not the real reasons. They are not confessable. And, finally, the only way to obtain your real objectives is not to let them know until you get what you do not believe in.
Let’s review: party offices seized for alleged embezzlement. Founder and “alma-mater” recognized fraudster. Parlament seats in clamorous descent. Convergencia party in general and Mr. Artur Mas in particular are not interested in Spain, nor in Europe. Overall, non Empire of Law is suitable for them, unless the law is created by them of course. Understandable in human terms, but unbereable in a person who must work with and for others.
How hard is having to follow its own Raca-raca (1) going from defeat to defeat until the final indifference, as an antonym of the famous phrase of Luis Aragones before winning the European Championship with the style of the Barcelona players (2). How hard “lose, lose and lose again.”
Historically, Catalonia has been a major, and often the main, economic, cultural and modern engine of Spain. A breath of Mediterranean, European and global fresh air to refresh dry inland territories. In these years of economic and social crisis, Catalonia could have devoted their energies, resources and expertise, to prepare the sails to take advantage the first good winds and move out of the crisis. Thus, Catalonia could return to their battered citizens the joy and the fruits of a well done job. Instead, he has devoted his political efforts on a project that, to quote his own alma-mater, “ara no toca (3)”. He has lied, manipulated and deceived many people with “Spain robs us”. He has appealed to the feelings to face first to the Spain that robs us and then to (at least) half of its own citizens. It seems that it was not Spain that was stealing, but the thieves were much closer.
Now, was all the fault on Convergencia party or Mr. Mas?. Of course not. Both have found invaluable assistance in the various governments of Spain. The “matter” is long and not properly addressed. As a gardener said, if a tender branch twists: it bends, straightens and problem solved. If the branch is already “talludita” (rather older) that will break rather than bend. Therefore, the question arises why it was prioritized the nation’s governance (of the then particular government party of course), rather than the nation itself?, why competencies were not clarified or processes were closed when they could have been done?, why autonomy and constitutional uncertainties (see “Statut of Catalonia”) were opened without a general prior consensus of what they wanted and where it led?
Two do not argue if one do not want to. How much you have to lose not to care about anything else, not your integrity or your ideas, or your political legacy. Not caring even when citizens, you are expected to work for, have increasingly fewer resources, more debt, fewer services and more pharmacies to which they are not paid the medicines for the most vulnerable citizens.
Don Artur Mas (and with him all Convergencia party) signed his own political obituary and social death last Monday. The first people drawing it will be the CUP party, which has never hidden its anti-system objectives and act as such. Their strange partners will follow, Esquerra Republicana party, with less drag, more consistency, except to cover their nose and enter “Junts pel Si” coalition party for this last regional elections. The next chapter will be written by the Empire of Law, which later rather than sooner, end up putting them in front of the mirror of their acts. Finally, the climax will put by the society itself, which as a fallen angel, cast down to the last symbol associated to them. His own memory.
And one wonders what his legacy could be. Being merciful, leaving his own Catalonia people broken, faced, plenty of debt and poorly managed. At worst, out of the euro, the ECB, the EU Structural Funds (ERDF, ESF, FADER, FEMP), the EIB. In short, isolated, unprotected citizens at the mercy of the markets and the risk premium (+1200 basis points during the crisis of 2012). Without access to the FLA (Autonomous Liquidity Fund provided by the Kingdom of Spain to the Autonomous regions. The last petition by Catalonia being of more than 2,000 million euros). With foreign direct investment stops or canceled (Piaggio, Panasonic, General Electric, Bayer, VW is it next?). The re-entry into the EU fully endangered, with 28 partners and unanimity required. What do you think will happen ?. Has anyone seen the Kosovo rejected by UNESCO?
The epitaph could read that might have been worth it if the reasons were not petty.
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(1) Spanish expression created by Spanish writer Peridis to describe the stuborn and boring insistance of the politician Mr. Ibarretxe defending its ideas.
(2) Famous sentence of National Football team coach Mr. Luis Aragones to motivate players: “win, win and win, this is football” (“ganar, ganar y ganar, eso es el fútbol”)
(3) Famous sentence of Mr. Pujol (former president of Catalonia Autonomous Region and “alma-mater” of Convergencia political party. The meaning is “Now is not the right time”, or a diplomatic way to say I don’t want to discuss about it.
