They say that history doesn't repeat itself, but it rhymes. As Spain prepares for a new general election in November, many of the issues that marked the run-up to the April vote are coming back round. Earlier this year, there was a back-and-forth between president Torra and the Central Electoral Commission as to what banner could be hung from the balcony of the Catalan government palace in Barcelona during the campaign period. The Commission said public buildings should be neutral spaces during elections; Torra argued his freedom of expression was being suppressed. He is currently awaiting trial on charges of disobedience relating to the controversy.
Last week, following a complaint from the body Impulso Ciudadano, the High Court of Justice of Catalonia ordered president Torra to take down the banner reading "Free political prisoners and exiles" as a cautionary measure. Yesterday, the court rejected an appeal submitted by government lawyers, then today a judge ordered the Mossos, the Catalan police force, to ensure the banner was removed immediately.
El magistrado ordena a @Mossos la retirada inmediata de pancarta+símbolo colgados en el balcón de la sede del @govern en cumplimiento de la cautelar acordada en el sí de una demanda por la colocación de estos símbolos por no representar al conjunto de l@s ciudadan@s
— TSJCat (@tsj_cat) September 27, 2019
Shortly afterwards, at about 3:30pm, two staff members came out onto the balcony and removed the banner, which the court had said "doesn't represent all [Catalan] citizens".
Video: Adrià Rovira
Some three hours later, a different group was seen on the balcony: singer-songwriter and former JxSí delegate Lluís Llach, actress Sílvia Bel, journalist and former CUP delegate Antonio Baños and philologist Maria Teresa Casals. They hung up a new banner reading "Freedom of opinion and of expression" and citing article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This was the same banner used as the first replacement in spring this year.