Saint George's Day (Sant Jordi in Catalan), the book and the rose, one of the most special days in Catalonia and unique in Europe, the day of love and the explosion of joy of a country which recognises itself in its traditions, the festival of freedom at a time when it's being questioned, starting with freedom of expression, has got a feature this year which, without wiping everything already said away, tarnishes it and gives it a special varnish. Repression and injustice have meant that some fifteen politicians, members of the Catalan government fired by Mariano Rajoy, representatives of pro-independence organisations, a former speaker of the Catalan Parliament and ERC's secretary general, are in prison or in exile. This Sant Jordi, so anomalous, is theirs. Basically theirs, deprived of freedom, in incomprehensible pretrial detention which is only supported by the general case against the independence movement. Nothing more.
It remains paradoxical: on the one hand, judge Pablo Llarena's is letting on ever more water, not just abroad, but also in Spain. Nobody today doubts that the investigation carried out at the Supreme Court has not been fit for purpose. The chances that the five members of the Catalan government in exile in Germany, Belgium and Scotland end up having favourable resolutions to the extradition requests against them drafted by the Spanish government for the crimes, among others, of rebellion and misuse of public funds, are starting to be very high. In Spain, the institutional crisis is very serious. Not just in the government, but also among the state's other institutions. The most reasonable thing would be to withdraw the European Arrest Warrants and bail conditions from the prisoners, revoking the current sentences. It's unlikely, very unlikely that Llarena, the investigating magistrate, will do so. It would be different were the case to return to the Supreme Court of Justice of Catalonia to have the sentences redrafted. It's a remote possibility, but in politics there are no remote possibilities.
The state is losing the match in the eyes of many observers, but counts on the strength of the arbitrariness of its decisions. Or is it not anomalous for the Catalan government to be in exile or in prison and that, on the other hand, those who fired them should come for a trip round Catalonia. Puigdemont, in Berlin; Comín, Serret and Puig, in Brussels; Ponsatí, in Edinburgh; Rovira, in Geneva; Junqueras, Turull, Rull, Romeva and Forn, in Estremera prison; Sànchez and Cuixart, in Soto del Real prison; and Forcadell and Bassa, in Alcalá Meco prison. This review is completed by Spanish deputy PM Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, who will be in Barcelona at a Societat Civil Catalana event to give a prize to Manuel Valls and the president of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani.
As such, this festive, joyful Sant Jordi is, above all, a Sant Jordi for them, the absent ones. A mass demonstration a week ago called for the release of the political prisoners, six months since the imprisonment of the 'Jordis', Sànchez and Cuixart. They, like minister Turull, will celebrate their name day in prison. Outside, in the streets of Catalonia, Sant Jordi will be different. We, at El Nacional, are celebrating it with a stand at passeig de Gràcia, 76 in Barcelona and many surprises through the day. Happy Sant Jordi!