I have seen Icarus: The Week in FlamesThe pro-Spanish documentary about the October 2019 protests in Barcelona has sparked outrage (a real firestorm on Twitter) from some fervent patriots who have called for a boycott of the Filmin platform, which is offering it until the 31st of this month. The documentary in question is so inept and laughable, so crude and tacky, that it's hard to believe anyone could be offended by such nonsense. Within Filmin's extensive and splendid catalog (a godsend for anyone who loves cinema, which I have no intention of giving up for anything, least of all for any patriotic appeal), Icarus: The Week in Flames It would fit, if at all, in the section dedicated to the most extravagant and outlandish B-movies, alongside the hilarious Troma productions and horror films with ketchup blood. The Trial of the Process, with Magistrate Marchena presiding over a blatantly dysfunctional court, was the cause of the Urquinaona riot, and it also marked the point at which the state's dirty secrets overflowed, still tainting everything today. But that's one thing, and quite another is a documentary that seems written and directed by the characters in... Martínez, the fascistI have no idea what this is doing among Filmin's releases this week, but given the platform's track record, I refuse to give it any more importance. In any case, read on. Mònica Planas's criticism of the pieceAnd you will find – as always – a sound analysis.

You might remember the series Riot policeA Movistar+ police drama that delved into the professional and domestic struggles of a group of men from the Spanish police's riot control units (UIP). In the final minute of the last episode, the protagonists arrived in Barcelona to quell the protests against the verdict in the Trials trial. One of the characters was giving a lecture to a rookie colleague:Relax, it's like anything else. You just need a little firmness and a little common sense. And if you throw in a little swagger... you've got it.But reality was less epic.

Killing the father figure is important for life in general, but for politics it is absolutely necessary. Politics is a collective discussion about the nature of good and what we must do to achieve it, and change begins when the feeling spreads that the old vision that explained it to us is running out and a new one is needed. Any political renewal is always a "transvaluation of values," as Nietzsche said; someone who points out that the emperor has no clothes, that what everyone says is no longer tenable, and that where no one is looking is precisely where we should focus our attention. The charismatic leader acts like the modern artist, who denounces the fossilization of the old canon and proposes a new form that challenges it from top to bottom—a scandal. In the feverish moment of cultural revelation, the break with the past anoints the breaker with an aura of irresistible novelty, and then the marginal takes center stage and begins to rise like foam.

On the day ARA was founded, November 28, 2010, José Montilla was president and Catalonia was reeling from the Constitutional Court's ruling that had curtailed the Statute of Autonomy. But by the end of the day, there was a new president. in pectoreArtur Mas, and a change in the political cycle was anticipated after seven years of left-wing tripartite governments. The CiU electoral program included a promise to negotiate a kind of economic agreement with Madrid, which was called fiscal pactFifteen years later, it can be said that we are in the same place, awaiting negotiations to improve the Generalitat's finances. But now no one is telling him. fiscal pact but unique financingAnd the one negotiating it isn't CiU, which no longer exists, but ERC. Reading this, someone might think that nothing relevant has happened in these 15 years, but in reality, they have been the most turbulent and exciting years in Catalan politics, perhaps since the Republican era. That's the great paradox of those 15 years.

Two-year disqualification, fine, and compensation for Isabel Díaz Ayuso's partner. condemnation of the Attorney General of the StateÁlvaro García Ortiz arrived at the Supreme Court this Thursday, the 50th anniversary of Franco's death, unexpectedly. He arrived even earlier than anticipated, and in fact, the sentence had not yet been drafted. Who are the five judges of the criminal division who made this decision? And who are the two dissenting judges? We examine the profiles of a court with a conservative majority, and the names associated with the judicialization of the Process of National Reorganization abound.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled in favor of the Spanish justice system for restricting the political rights of Jordi Sánchez, Jordi Turull, and Oriol Junqueras following their imprisonment for the October 1st referendum and the December 2017 elections. The Strasbourg court's decision, supported by Supreme Court Justice Pablo Llarena, found that the three leaders violated several articles of the European Convention on Human Rights and its protocols. The ruling aligns with the Spanish Constitutional Court's assessment that there was sufficient evidence to suspect serious crimes. This is despite the fact that, as the UN Human Rights Committee stated, the leaders had called on citizens to demonstrate peacefully, and isolated acts of violence could not be attributed to them.

From the pacified Consell de Cent street, Jordi Amat explains in his new book The Battles of Barcelona: Cultural Imaginaries of a City in Dispute There is a difficult-to-resolve relationship between the Catalan nation and its capital. In these debates, many pro-independence commentators have participated, and consistently so, although Amat seems to have ignored us (or so he pretends). I would say that, among all of Amat's accurate assertions (Barcelona is indeed a "political body without a head"), the most unfortunate misstep is his obsession with sparing the independence movement. This is a constant in Barcelona's friendly and smiling "social democracy" when faced with the evidence that the Process was the most popular, daring, progressive, participatory, electrifying, creative, and internationalizing event (and even the one with the greatest social consensus) that Barcelona has seen since the Olympic Games. The difference is that no decent pro-independence supporter would ever underestimate the importance of the Olympic Games. They may criticize aspects and consequences, but never treat it condescendingly. As we know, even within the establishment, there are still stratified classes.

A general consensus is emerging that genocide is being committed in Gaza. Okay. And a month ago, what was it? Because we've been denouncing the atrocities and excesses committed by Israel in this conflict for months. What happens when the classification of the thing is elevated to a new terminology? Well, the effect is twofold: on the one hand, it automatically garners more sympathy from international public opinion (the famous battle of the story), and, on the other, it enters a different legal classification that has aggravated penal effects. If Russia were committing genocide in Ukraine, the demonstrations against Putin would undoubtedly have rekindled throughout Europe (instead of this shameful paralysis). At first, Hitler also limited himself to invasions, when the Holocaust was not yet known (or reported): you start by invading territories, or in other words, not respecting the rights of peoples, and you end up not respecting life. Genocide is a change of screen. A change of size. What's more, if you say it is, you automatically seem pro-Palestinian; if you say it isn't, you're pro-Zionist. Labels label us.

Together maintains the threat to Pedro Sánchez and includes Salvador Illa in the equation. The party led by Carles Puigdemont now links the Catalan and Spanish legislatures and seeks to force Salvador Illa to ratify the Brussels agreement, which they reached. the junteros directly with the PSOEIf the president of the Generalitat opposes it, the spokesperson for the Junts group in the Parliament, Mònica Sales, warned in a press conference from Waterloo that "there will be no further path" in the relationship between the regional government and the Socialists, both in Madrid and Barcelona.

Eight years after the events of October 2017, there is still no clear consensus on what the so-called Process was. This period began with the 2012 Diada, the first organized by the ANC, and can officially be considered over on May 12, 2024, when the majority of the independence movement loses. During this period, with varying intensity, the debate over independence and the self-determination referendum dominated the Catalan and, to some extent, Spanish political agendas. There is no doubt that the culminating moment of the Process was October 1, 2017, when more than two million people participated in a referendum on independence, thus defying the ban imposed by the Spanish courts.

Cristóbal Montoro has been a powerful man within the Spanish state. He served twice as Minister of Finance, in the governments of Aznar and Rajoy, at times accumulating more important functions, such as the Civil Service and the Relations with Territorial Administrations, that is, everything related to public employees, autonomous regions, and local authorities. Now we discover, or rather confirm, that in addition to being a powerful man, he has also been a shadowy figure.

If a good doctor attacks the causes of the disease and not just the symptoms, a good politician should study the roots of a conflict and not limit himself to repressing it and then granting the right to a fair trial. funny of forgiveness. This politician does not exist in Spain, or he is in ostracism, and therefore the case of the Catalans, as it was called in the 18th century, is still very much in force despite the fact that the PSOE proclaims that the conflict known as the Process It can be considered closed. The process will not remain closed until the amnesty has been extended to everyone. But what is certain is that the conflict remains, and those of us who believe in it have work to do.

For the first time since October 2017, local elected officials supporting independence have gathered for a joint event to join forces and try to revive the independence movement, currently in a slump following the disillusionment of the independence process. The meeting, held this Saturday in Girona—the only regional capital with a clearly pro-independence government—brought together nearly 200 mayors and councilors from across Catalonia, mostly from Junts, Esquerra, and the CUP, from towns such as Girona, Vic, Manresa, Agramunt, and Amposta. Catalan Alliance, there was no representation, since the far-right party was neither invited to the event nor interested in attending.

After the 1-O referendum, and with the departure of part of the pro-independence leaders into exile and the imprisonment of the other, the political dispute moved to the courts. Since then, and perhaps with a touch of naivety, the pro-independence movement placed great hope in European justice. And it is true that important victories were achieved, such as the refusal of the German courts to hand Carles Puigdemont over to Spain to be tried for rebellion (yes, for embezzlement, which is the case he currently faces), or the obligation in the European Parliament to accept Puigdemont and Toni Com as MEPs (he stood for election despite being in prison). But the truth is that there have also been defeats, and, furthermore, the victories have not served to change reality or thestatus quo.

ERC spokesman in Congress, Gabriel Rufián, was interviewed this Sunday on the La Sexta programme The thing about Évole, where he has reflected on his career and the political situation. In a preview, the Republican leader already regretted that the independence movement and he himself had distributed "purity cards". Words that They were very unpopular with some sectors of the independence movementThese are the ten most notable phrases said by the Republican leader.

In case anyone had any doubts, Trump has just made his identity as a tough, unscrupulous sheriff clear and transparent. Everything for my people, if necessary humiliating the weakest of Europeans. This is his refuted identity. This is what excites the millions of Americans who voted for him. Without compassion for those who do not do what he wants. A recipe that is spreading like wildfire. The diplomacy of threat.

That a court that calls itself a "Human Rights" court should establish that it is proportionate to veto a debate and a vote in parliament on the right to self-determination and the monarchy is the closest thing to a contradiction. Surely, to support their ruling, the European judges have found more solid legal grounds in the Constitution of a pre-existing state and in the jurisprudence of its highest interpreting body than in the attempts to disconnect from a regional Parliament with concealed constituent intentions. But the paradox remains: there is a right for self-determination or the monarchy to be voted on by citizens in an electoral programme but not for them to be voted on by their representatives, even if a parliamentary majority is in favour of it at the polls.

Yale University, one of the oldest universities in the United States, has invited Pere Aragonès to an event on "negotiation in secessionist conflicts" and the "lessons" of the Catalan case. As explained in the Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs website, which is part of the university, the former president will host a "conversation" on "the role of political leadership in the de-escalation of secessionist conflicts and the restoration of stability."

After having elected Laura Borràs and Jordi Turull to lead the party, Together for Catalonia (JxCat) will begin the second phase of its party conference: a debate on the political roadmap, local elections and the internal organization. Specifically, there are four area proposals (political, organisational, local and sectoral) that have been sent to all party members so that they can make amendments and be passed in the second phase of the conclave on July 16 and 17. In the political proposal, to which ARA has had access, JxCat opens the door to abandoning the coalition government depending on the assessment it is currently carrying out of its agreement with ERC. On the other hand, it proposes to terminate the negotiating table with the Spanish state coinciding with the fifth anniversary of the October 1st Referendum.

The Prosecutor's Office is not easing in its ideological persecution of the independence movement. This Wednesday it became known in general terms what the lawsuit against 35 former Catalan government officials contains. It revolves around the 2017 referendum as well as the Generalitat's foreign action between 2011 and 2017, in a case that is clearly political and unfair from its very start. It is illogic that the Generalitat's foreign action, which at the time was perfectly legal and was not challenged before any court, is investigated by an administrative body that aims to economically punish political opponents for events which, in any case, have already been judged in a different trial. That said, the only good thing that can be drawn from this lawsuit, the full content of which has not yet been made public, is that the court's prosecutor, Manuel Martín-Granizo, of the Progressive Union of Prosecutors, considerably reduced the money that he considers may have been embezzled. From the initial €9m it has been cut to €3.4m, and, more significantly, the justification he gives for this reduction is that "the lawsuit respects and applies a principle of ideological freedom", so that he considers that the debates or conferences that could have been given were covered by freedom of expression.