Far Right: Whining and Wasting Time

Even now, denouncing the existence of a pro-independence far-right seriously angers some patriots, who claim this is a hoax from the Spanish left. In fact, to these patriots, the left almost always seems pro-Spanish, and of course, woke and drowned in a raft of weak thinking. Perhaps some of them are bothered by hearing about a Catalan far right because they are closer than they want to appear. Be that as it may, the pro-independence far right is a phenomenon that today has two deputies in the Catalan Parliament and enjoys ample potential for electoral growth. It also suffers, and this weighs it down, from strong internal fragmentation, which materializes in a dance of acronyms and small groups. It has everything well described and explained in the reportage by Xavi Tedó in this newspaper.

The victim-centered rhetoric that insists on presenting Catalonia as a nation occupied by settlers, common among some separatists, may not be strictly right-wing rhetoric, but it clearly buttresses it and gives it strength. It's curious that supporters of this rhetoric often find it difficult to consider Palestine as an occupied and colonized nation, and see no problem, however, with using these terms in reference to "Catalans" (a term that in their statements is as blurred and ghostly as in those of Spanish nationalism). In fact, they often hear a sort of identification between Catalonia and Israel, particularly with the "right to self-defense" wielded by Netanyahu and his ultra-conservative government. There's also a good dose of Trumpism from Mr. Esteve, and in general, support for the specter haunting Europe in the form of illiberal political proposals, which our fascists (we can also say this) identify with a supposedly "strong" political thinking.

The existence of a Catalan far right has to do with the influence of the international scene, but also with its own factors. The main one is that the energy that led to the October 1st referendum, which was essentially progressive and linked to democratic radicalism, has been left in barroom "debates"—essentially on social media, and also in forums trying to milk the bitterness of the post-trial process to sell their patriotic ointment. They are recognizable because they are usually ready to reproach anyone who disagrees with their sermons with treason or cowardice, and because they tell scary stories about the death of the Catalan language and the replacement or supplanting of "Catalans" by a whole range of groups from outside expressly trying to destroy Catalan ways of life. In short: they join the Ploricó International represented in the European Parliament by the Patriotes group, while simultaneously forging their own ploricó and nostrat. Among other things, they represent a significant waste of time and energy.