Antonio Navalón
Spain, and everything that a country with such strong roots and consequences in the European Union means, has entered an uncertainty stage.
From the beginning, from the adventure that was the political transition from the Franco dictatorship to Juancardista democracy, there was a maxim, an objective, and an imposition. I acknowledge that having had the opportunity to be personally involved in the process, at first, he did not quite understand what this maxim would entail. Adolfo Suárez González, the president, appointed by the King of Spain – this being the first appointment made by the Spanish monarch after the death of the dictator and after having become head of the Spanish State – insisted time and again, privately and publicly, that the steps of political change inevitably had to be carried out from law to law. That is to say, Suárez understood very well that a territory so mined and with a history of brotherly hatred, after having lived through a civil war that caused more than half a million deaths and after 40 years of dictatorship, everything had to be done under a legal basis. Therefore, both he and all the political actors involved – except for young people like Felipe González or the communists like Santiago Carrillo – swore allegiance to the so-called fundamental principles of the Spanish legal and political order.
Adolfo Suárez always maintained that the moral legitimacy of the transition was based on using the same legal instruments used under Franco to ask the Spanish people whether or not they wanted to change. And, consequently, do everything necessary – from the absolute disbelief that both his figure and that of King Juan Carlos produced – to capture the conviction to the people that with fairness in the game, everything was possible. Thus, his great maneuver included changing the laws and making protagonists of those who – within the logic of the dictatorship – had been the guarantors and those who had endorsed the policies of General Franco to bury the Franco regime and completely open the way to the democratic process.
There were criticisms, and there were even those who at first did not believe it possible. However, those of us who doubted ended up falling in love with how the procedure was carried out. On December 15, 1976, Adolfo Suárez held a referendum to – within the legality that he and the king embodied – ask the Spanish people if they wanted the laws to be changed for Spain to achieve full democracy. The result was overwhelming in favor of democracy. On June 15, 1977, six months later, with all the guarantees and without any suspicion of misuse, falsification, or theft, the first democratic electoral process in 40 years was held. This process brought with it the political model that has remained for the last 44 years in Spain. Without a doubt, this was an example of how to carry out a democratic process through consensus.
Last Tuesday, June 22, the Council of Ministers, chaired by President Pedro Sánchez, made a qualitative leap in which – without precisely violating the law – the spirit of the laws that have governed Spain since 1977 changed. That day, Sánchez pardoned the nine leaders of the so-called Procés, the independence movement seeking to separate Catalonia from Spain. Historically, Spain has been a country built based on imposing its membership on its national territory. The dream, the enchantment, and the irrationality that nationalism always is during all this time have accompanied both the Basques and the Catalans.
In Spain, to obtain a pardon, it is a condition sine qua non to repent of what has been done. You need to show that you are sorry for the act that landed you in jail or deprived you of your freedom. The pardons granted by Sánchez represent much more than a simple isolated political or legal action. The pardons granted, which also occurred in a clearly asymmetric situation, are supported and argued by the president as a first step to initiate a dialogue that leads to concord and national unity.
In the midst of discussing that, all this will serve to give more wings to Catalan nationalism and that sooner rather than later is the path that will lead to Spain being blown up, the beneficiaries of the pardon came out victorious. At the same time, the government of the nationalists of the Catalan Generalitat said that it valued the gesture but that it was insufficient and that now what they were looking for was the proclamation of an amnesty, and later the negotiation of a process that would end with a referendum agreed in the style than a few decades ago, Scotland did with England. All of this has generated a situation in which Pedro Sánchez’s audacious and perilous political operation has divided the country. Now there is an unpredictable dialectic, and it is unknown what may happen in the country from now on.
As a person born in Spain, I know its history and what really terrifies me is the Spanish centralism. It should not be forgotten that the toughest infantry in history was the Spanish, having as proof the conquest of the Americas. Nor should we forget that in the center of Spain, Castile, the peaceful coexistence that for centuries had subsisted of the three great religions and cultures within the national territory was liquidated without any compassion. Until the Castilians –through the Catholic Monarchs– seized power, Spain was a country made up of a game of partial coexistence. There is also the fact that for a long time –as a consequence of the diaspora– Spain was the place with the greatest number of Jews under the name of Sepharad, having Toledo as their capital. That way of understanding and doing politics. That brutality expressed during the creation and consolidation of Spain has brought and still has consequences in history and collective memory. That is why the Constitution ratified on December 6, 1978, was so important.
For the first time, Spain gave itself an agreed Constitution in which the differentiating facts were recognized. One of the most important aspects of this Constitution was the recognition of those Spaniards who did not wish to continue being so and the creation of a framework in which – through the recognized Spain of the autonomies – they could feel integrated and realized under the democratic miracle that began in 1976.
The party is over. It is clear that the Constitution will need a deep adjustment, and it is very difficult that – unless we go to an open war – it cannot and should not become a completely federal state. But we must not forget that at this moment, what Catalonia means, what this pardon and this political movement mean, is a carom to several bands that affect, for example, European unity. And it does so in the sense that I do not know how far the Spanish forces will support the separation of Catalonia, but I am sure that France will not tolerate this behavior.
To start changing the borders is to start going back to the Napoleonic wars and what has basically sustained the wars in Europe. It should not be forgotten that there are also border problems at this time in the east, as is the case in Ukraine. In Europe, cases such as the Scottish or the Corsicans in France are clear examples of the achievement of the last instance of independence wishes. What is currently happening in Catalonia makes the naturalness and functioning of borders be questioned once again. As has been seen in the past, so much border movement does not usually bring anything good. Generally, the instability of the borders is the preamble of the wars; hopefully, this is not the case.
Here we are, and at this moment, there are several elements to consider. Yes, Pedro Sánchez’s political audacity is undeniable; the fact that something had to be done is evident. Indeed, the folly of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and the passivity of Mariano Rajoy fed the Catalan monster. Still, at this moment, no one knows how far the consequences of the act can go. According to Pedro Sánchez, this act is done to seek harmony, but in the eyes of those pardoned is a kind of moral victory that will allow them to take another step towards their ultimate goal.
Politics is the art of the possible. Revolutions always devour their children. Within the situation created due to this political scenario, it will be necessary to see what will happen in the Catalan independence movement. I see it very difficult that the moderates can really continue to lead the process since these types of situations tend to benefit the Roberspierre’s and cut off the Danton’s heads.
Spain, and everything that a country with such strong roots and consequences in the European Union means, has entered an uncertainty stage. A stage where while it is true that something had to be done, it is just as true that mishandling of the situation can lead to the liquidation, not of the independent spirit, but the legal ordering of coexistence in Spain. If not handled well, this situation could end up being the annihilation – in fact – of the constitutional spirit. It could violate the marvel, the church arch, and the success of the Spanish transition in the time of Suárez and Juan Carlos I, who were doing everything from law to law.
