The viciousness towards Jordi Pujol

Both on the right and on the left, since the eighties the figure of Jordi Pujol has caused consensus in Madrid: almost everyone resents him. The bewilderment and misunderstanding with Catalonia and its claims found their first representation in him, and this is still maintained in the collective imagination of the Spanish capital. Perhaps it has nothing to do with it – one must always leave room for doubt – but the summons that has now been made to the former president at the Audiencia Nacional in Madrid for Monday seems to be understood only from this sentiment.

he explained in an interview with el ARAhe explained in an interview with el ARA a few months ago that Pujol was not "in a condition to be able to defend himself or argue dialectically", even though he himself was not fully aware of it. And his family has also warned of the fragility of his state of health.

Even so, the National High Court judge José Ricardo de Prada, a magistrate considered from the progressive wing, has disregarded these reports and has not even considered it pertinent to send the forensic doctor to Barcelona or to rely on the judicial forensic doctors in Catalonia to carry out this prior review. Junts and ERC have spoken of "malicious intent" and "mockery," and the President of the Generalitat himself, Salvador Illa, has asked for "common sense" from the courts. For his part, the Minister of Justice, Félix Bolaños, has also said that the former president's health status could have been checked in Barcelona.

The court, however, stated in its order that if there were "any modification" in his health in the coming days, it would take the appropriate decision. We will see what ends up happening and if this blunder can be avoided, but right now it is difficult not to think that the former president is not being treated as any other elderly person in his circumstances would be treated. In his case, it seems that the court cannot avoid the desire to get a photo and to make him go through the ordeal, even if he ends up unable to testify or does so in pitiable conditions that show his weakness. It would be a way of publicizing a trial that this week enters a crucial moment because the statements of the main defendants are beginning. First, that of the former president himself, which remains to be seen if it can be done. And then that of his eldest son, Jordi Pujol Ferrusola, for whom the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office is seeking 29 years for the crimes of illicit association and money laundering.