Spanish nationalists lean on Rajoy to reject “third way”

These are new times, but the same faces crop up in every initiative against Catalan nationalism. Now, grouped together in the platform Libres e Iguales (Free and Equal), veterans of the cause of Spanish unity such as Albert Boadella, Nicolás Redondo Terreros and Mario Vargas Llosa released a manifesto yesterday demanding a harder stand against the will of the Catalans to exercise their right of self-determination at the polls on 9 November. The text, read out loud outside the doors of the Spanish parliament, is a serious warning to Spanish president Mariano Rajoy, just a few days before his meeting with Catalan president Artur Mas.

“The secessionist challenge has not received the response that it deserves”, said the signers disapprovingly. Curiously, it was read out by PP MP Cayetana Álvarez de Toldeo, linked to the Aznar-ist sector of the party through the FAES foundation. “The Catalans who are against independence feel abandoned”, lamented the winner of the Nobel Prize for literature, whose personal stance is very close to that of Rosa Díez. They are thereby laying a duty at the feet of the Spanish national parties, including Ciutadans but excluding IU. They demand that the Constitution be celebrated “as a motto for citizenship and coexistence”, that they work together, and especially that they reject any “negotiation” with the pretext of stopping the head-on collision between Spain and Catalonia. They oppose a “third way” to find the role of Catalonia within Spain and they call for fighting a battle of ideas while at the same time they advocate a strong hand: they want the State to “apply all the law, and give a clear warning of the consequences of violating the law”. The basic objective is to stop “opaque maneuvers designed to offer new privileges to nationalism”. They have already announced events in the Spanish capital on September 11 and in Cadiz during the summer.

Federalist response

This harshness stands in contrast to another manifesto, which was presented this morning in Madrid, in defense of a federalist solution. In line with the territorial program of the PSOE (at least up to now), the signatories call for the recognition of national identities, a true territorial Senate, a new regional finance system that is fair and balanced and a clear distribution of powers. Signers included the journalist and lawyer José Antonio Zarzalejos, professor Fernando Vallespín and former Spanish minister Ángel Gabilondo.

Unlike on previous occasions, and perhaps because the lower chamber was not in session this week, very few MPs were present at the unveiling of the new Spanish nationalist platform. Besides Álvarez de Toledo, the only other MP present was Irene Lozano of UPyD, a rising star in her party. She left in a huff, however, as they didn’t let her join them for the photograph.

In fact, the thinking behind the document sits well with the criticisms that the new Spanish nationalists, with fewer complexes, make to the PP: the lack of an attractive narrative, not merely a defensive one. The promoters of Free and Equal believe that “tactics and resignation prevail among the elites”, while they regard the Catalan independence movement as “anti-European populism”. It is supported by, among others, Carmen Iglesias, who was a teacher of King Felipe, and Adolfo Suárez Illana. Yesterday, incidentally, Rajoy called for people to show “pride” in being Spanish.