That Spain is experiencing its greatest institutional crisis since the start of the post-Franco political transition is almost beyond argument. The territorial crisis provoked mostly by political and judicial excesses, although also by economic and media-related factors, which has put in evidence the weakness of Spanish democracy and its exclusive pursuit of repression as the solution for any conflict, has now, as a result of the insulting verdict given by the three judges in the Pamplona "wolf pack" case, been intensified by an unprecedented conflict between the Spanish judiciary and the government of Mariano Rajoy.
When a country starts coming apart at the seams and imploding into multiple crises, it usually enters a phase of institutional collapse and that is what is happening in Spain in this twilight stage of a thoroughly incompetent government. The words of Spanish justice minister Rafael Catalá, pointing the finger directly at one of the three judges that issued the the "wolf pack" verdict — the judge who asked for the complete acquittal of the five barbarous men — and blaming the General Council of the Judiciary for not having sidelined that judge, since he "has a special problem" and "everybody" knows that, has forced the body which is the country's senior judicial organ literally into a corner.
The fact that associations of judges and public prosecutors have asked for the minister's resignation is almost anecdotal. Spain's Congress also demanded it and he remains in office and it is obvious that it is long since time for Catalá to have left the government. Among other motives, because of the government's mismanagement of article 155, the way it exploited the Public Prosecutor's Office against the Catalan referendum of 1st October (a matter about which we will learn the full details one day), and the pressure exerted on the justice system which today still retains a significant part of the Catalan government in prison and has forced the rest to take the path to exile, from president Carles Puigdemont down. This is not the only conflict between the Spanish government and the justice system: treasury minister Montoro's insistence that no public funds were misappropriated for the referendum is still pitted against the view defended by Supreme Court judge Pablo Llarena.
But it is not because of the "wolf pack" issue that the justice minister must leave his position immediately. The accusations that the minister has made about the judge in the Pamplona case are very serious, and the judicial council, far from simply asking politicians to exercise prudence — the assertion that nobody in Spain is above the law is repeated frequently, although it is obvious that this is not the case— needs to go further and open an investigation. And if it already knows the result, then it must urgently give an account to public opinion.
Of course, I know that it is comfortable and easy for Spanish media to talk about the division in the Catalan independence movement and speculate on whether or not a new government will be formed. When six months have now gone by since the proclamation of the Catalan Republic, seven since the referendum, and over four since the Catalan elections, it is important to recognize that this unexpected act of demolition of the Spanish institutional architecture would not have occurred if the process of forming a new Catalan government had been handled differently.