I know that no one in Madrid will pay it any attention and that the old refrain that they're uninformed politicians, or that they've been manipulated, or that they're not the majority of the French National Assembly will be repeated one again. But the letter published this Sunday in Le Journal du Dimanche by 52 delegates denouncing the repression of the Catalan elected officials carried out by Spanish authorities and expressing their concern and disapproval for what they consider to be a violation of fundamental rights and of the exercise of democracy is quite the slap in the face for prime ministers Pedro Sánchez and Mariano Rajoy, for the kingdom of Spain's foreign ministers since the repression began in 2012 and, by extension, for the whole Spanish deep state which has taken part in it directly or covered for it.
Minister Borrell, who will paradoxically be the next head of diplomacy for Europe, has just received one of the greatest slaps of his time at the head of the foreign ministry, and not from a specific political party, but from a select group of parliamentarians from different parties covering very different ideologies from the liberal centre to the left. The repression he's tried to minimise or deny, his fight with foreign ministries and international media for not accepting his point of view of the Catalan conflict or, simply, him denying reality will form part of his legacy. Global Spain, his latest invention headed by former UPyD delegate Irene Lozano, will also form part of his inheritance.
One of the most mistaken analyses of Spanish politics has been to think that, with time, the Catalan conflict would end up dissolving like a sugar cube in a glass of water. The famous soufflé which has been talked about so much and which first was a consequence of the economic crisis and then of the manipulation by pro-independence authorities. The soufflé which led more than two million people to vote on 1st October 2017 and hold demonstrations with more than a million attendees apiece each 11th September. Manuel Valls, who still doesn't understand anything of that which is happening in Barcelona, has labelled the 52 French delegates as irresponsible and ignorant, bold words from someone who fell far short of the electoral hopes they sparked.
Already in March, 41 French senators denounced the repression of Catalan politicians in the face of the scorn of the Spanish authorities. Spain's position isn't changing, but nor is the body of independence supporters shrinking. And one day it's French parliamentarians, another from the UK, or from Germany, or any other European country. And Borrell continues to boast about his political action. And Pedro Sánchez says that it's a conflict between Catalans. Certainly, it's not just short-sightedness.