1-O trial and the Catalan interpreter who does not know Catalan

Many things have happened this week, and the most important one (even if it seems so) is not that Florentino Pérez is going to Ceuta today to make a resounding profession of the Spanish identity of Madrid and Ceuta. A kind of “how could I not love you”, if I am Madrid.But today the news in Ceuta is that the thousands of people who were living in poor conditions on the beaches have finally been moved to the city's port, where a decent camp awaits them. It has taken a month and nineteen days for the president of Ceuta, the Spanish government, the judiciary, and the police unions to agree and stop preventing it. A shameful management. By the way, very far but very close to Ceuta, in New York, the governments of Morocco and Israel have signed the agreement by which Rabat and Tel Aviv elevate their diplomatic relations to the embassy level, and they will soon exchange ambassadors. Morocco is not only the neighbor that holds the key to African immigration to the EU, but it also reinforces its long-standing alliance with the United States, now with Trump.But, of course, in a week where the topic of debate has been whether AI could kill us all before 2030, any other news seems small. In reality, everything matters. If we talk about ourselves, it has begun, as you know, the trial of the four national police officers accused of torture and injuries resulting in the loss of an organ, when they fired the rubber bullet that left Roger Español blind in one eye on October 1st. The day before yesterday they said that the operation was “absolutely perfect”, and yesterday the police officers declared, very remorseful, as proof of the aggression with which they were received, that people were shouting “Españolazos” at them, that they were only defending themselves, that they gave warnings and that they were not going to cause harm but to deter. And they said this with Roger Español present there.Police: “The very aggressive manner in which the public gathered there was throwing objects, mm, stones, cobblestones, bottles, from... from the facades they were also throwing them, and their physical integrity was at serious risk. This is more than enough, more than enough, to be able to use the riot control equipment that the intervention units are legally equipped with, which are not harmful, mm, they are not... They are deterrent. They are not harmful, they are deterrent.”But the moment that sums it all up is this one. The judge calls a Catalan interpreter, who gets so nervous that she cannot interpret anything.

Judge: "Catalan interpreter, right?"Interpreter: "Yes".Judge: "Do you swear or promise to perform your duties as an interpreter well and faithfully, eh?"Interpreter: "I do".Lawyer: "The first question is whether he participated in the design of the October 1st operation regarding the criteria for the use of force."

Interpreter: "Sorry, could... could you repeat the question again, please?"

Lawyer: "Yes. The question is whether he participated in the design of the police operation of October 1st, specifically regarding the criteria for the use of force."

Interpreter: "Yes, she asks if he participated in the October 1st operation in the design... [cough] sorry... um... could you repeat that again, please?"Judge: "I submit for the consideration of the parties, uh, two options: either to suspend the trial until an interpreter is appointed who can adequately perform the duties, or to arrange some other type of mechanism that the parties consider appropriate so that the witness can testify".I say it sums everything up because it shows the little or no willingness of the Spanish justice system for Catalan to be used normally in a trial, as if they did not want to inconvenience the police, so that many times the lawyers have to end up acting as interpreters. And in the end, some get tired of it and start asking in Spanish.

Good morning.