Josep Maria Nadal: "I am saddened that Cercas justifies violence when I learned from him not to justify it"

He assures that he felt no pain while receiving violent baton blows all over his body, nor when the Civil Guard agents threw him to the ground and dragged him a few meters, nor when they deliberately stepped on him with their boots, nor when, with no strength to get up, he turned pale and suffocated. Josep Maria Nadal, former rector of the University of Girona, professor and catedrático of Catalan philology, explains that he felt the pain just as the Civil Guards were leaving the polling station in Aiguaviva shouting ¡Viva España! ” He still has marks on his body from October 1st, but it is not the physical pain he suffered that hurts him the most, but the moral damage caused by the voices that deny or justify the brutal police charges of that day, such as that of the writer Javier Cercas, former professor at the UdG.

Cercas said that there were only two hospitalized as a result of the police charges on October 1st. You, who were one of the numerous hospitalized that day, have you responded to him? From the Aiguaviva school I was one of those hospitalized, but from this municipality alone there were seven of us hospitalized. That's why I ask Cercas: "How can you say that? You can be against independence, but don't lie to defend an idea." By saying this, Cercas is attacking more than 2 million people.

Do they continue to be friends?We were very good friends. It's been a while since we've seen each other and I don't know if we still are. What I do know is that now I don't respect him. Many things about him have upset me. Above all, one thing, because it shows me that he hasn't been an honest person, and that is the fact that he now justifies the actions of October 1st, when he was the one who taught me that physical violence is never justified. I was one of those who tried to understand ETA's actions, as did some who were ministers under Aznar and who years earlier had been part of Bandera Roja and had toasted when the terrorist group assassinated Carrero Blanco. Cercas told me that we would not win any battle until we admitted that we were wrong in justifying violence. He made me change, and the day we held a minute of silence at the University of Girona against an ETA attack while a group of people with covered faces shouted at us, Cercas dedicated an article to me praising that action. That's why his stance hurts me now. And also the fact that he says that what is happening in Catalonia is a war between rich and poor, because he invents it to attack certain things.

What do you remember about October 1st? In Aiguaviva we had organized a collective meal in the square and just as we were finishing, they warned us that several Civil Guard vans were approaching. We gathered in front of the school gate and put our hands up, but they started breaking down the barrier we had made by hitting us with batons and throwing gas in people's faces. They grabbed me, knocked me to the ground, and beat me, first with the batons horizontally, then with the tip, as if they were stabbing me. At that moment, pain didn't exist. I don't know if it was due to adrenaline or anger... It wasn't until a while later, when they had already left, that I noticed I was hurting all over. The next day my foot was bruised, because one of the things they did was step on us with their boots.

But you managed to save the urn. I didn't see it, because I was taken by ambulance to the hospital, where I was admitted until two in the morning. But I know they entered and took away, as if it were a great treasure, an urn full of empty envelopes. The real urn we had already hidden. This must have angered them a lot, because they made a fool of themselves. How they were angered by the fact that President Puigdemont was toying with them as if he were James Bond and managed to vote in another polling station while they sabotaged the one he was supposed to vote in, or by the fact that there were urns and ballots that day.

Do you think fear will stop the step forward that some citizens are demanding to declare independence? Sincerely, I don't think so. Perhaps there is a certain fear of an economic crisis, but the fear of the Guardia Civil, of batons, of aggression... is no longer there. People have discovered that if you are beaten and you have your arms up, you take a beating but those who beat you receive ten, because everyone sees that they are savages. I believe this peaceful attitude will be maintained. It is what makes us strong. What has become clear, because they have told us, is that we are not Spanish. When people shout “ ¡A por ellos!” they are saying that we are them, that is to say, we are not theirs. Now 2.5 million Catalans or more no longer feel Spanish, and a part of the Catalan population that feels Spanish is being replaced by rising generations in which not all feel Spanish.

Did the students' response to the mobilizations of these days surprise you? It is evident that we are where we are because young people have thrown themselves into it. Their organizational capacity, with the help of social networks, has been spectacular and has been key to the success of the referendum's logistics. With the students, exactly the same. With radicalism, but with maturity, they have massively taken to the streets. I also want to highlight the role of the CUP, which has shown itself to be more mature than we thought. Anna Gabriel's last speech was one of the best ever given in Parliament. They also showed maturity the day the National Police wanted to enter their headquarters and they formed a cordon to protect the officers and prevent acts of violence.

As a professor, what do you think when schools are accused of indoctrinating students to hate Spain? If García Albiol wants to make Spaniards believe that we are training children to hate Spain, it is because he wants Spaniards to hate us. When some Spaniards go out into the streets and shout “ ¡A por ellos! ”, the culprits are not those who shout it. The culprits are García Albiol, Arrimadas, Rivera, Rajoy... They are the ones who force those people to hate us. One day they will have to answer for this fanning of hatred.