đłď¸ This Week in Spain: Catalonia's Future
Also: A diplomatic crisis with Argentina and fistfights in movie theaters.
By @IanMount and @AdrianBono | May 9, 2024 | Madrid | Issue #56
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đĽ This Week in a Nutshell: Itâs weird, isnât it? To suddenly be facing a normal, boring week where the sh*t is not hitting the fan for a change. Enjoy it, it probably wonât last long. Anyway, all eyes are on Catalan elections this Sunday, as Socialists (the likely winners) try to figure out who to partner with.
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Yes, another election.
đłď¸ Catalonia Votes and it Looks Like the Socialists Will Win. But⌠(And Thereâs Always a âButâ)
Catalonia heads to the polls this Sunday and if you believe the polls (and 𤨠there are lots of reasons to doubt them) the socialists will win handily but the result could beâŚnew elections! âWhat?!â you say, rapturous at the possibility of watching another regional election in the fall. Yes, Montse, Itâs true. But letâs start with the vote.Â
Left-leaning majority. Our fave local pollster Kiko Llaneras explains the situation in minute detail in El PaĂs (and above), but in broad strokes, his poll of polls shows that there is an almost definite path to a 68+ seat majority with the overall winner PSC (the PSOEâs Catalan cousin) joining ERC (leftish separatists) and Comuns Sumar (lefty group thatâs like Podemos+Sumar but without a lotta votes).Â
Separatist majority. Less probable, but still possible, is that the three separatist partiesâERC, the right-of-center Junts (famous for its âI Moved to Brussels and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirtâ boss, Carles Puigdemont) and the CUP (anarchist hippies)âcould cobble together 68 seats.
Both. Yes, itâs not an either/or. Both possibilities could exist at once, like SchrĂśdinger's Cat(alonia).
So, so, soâŚwhat? The issue is less mathematical than political. The PSC is expected to win easily (with some 40 seats in the 135-seat parliament), followed by Junts (34) and then ERC (26). But the question is whether ERCâwhich was governing until it called the elections and suffered a steep drop in the pollsâwill take the risk of being the junior party to a party (PSC) it agrees with on economic policy but disagrees with on separatist ideology.Â
Whyâs that a risk? Because if ERC doesnât stand up for separatism, what makes it different from the PSC? And why wouldnât ERC voters who care about separatism then just vote for Junts or the CUP? In other words, the ERC worries that a deal with PSC would be suicide.
Is the other option a risk? If a separatist majority is possible, led by Puigdemont, it will be hard for the ERCâs Pere Aragonès, the current president of Cataloniaâs regional government (the Generalitat) to say ânoâ (though he said he wonât be VP to either Puigdemont or PSC boss Salvador Illa). Plus, Puigdemont would be forced to govern, which could be kinda crazy.
The problem (for Aragonès) is that polls show a separatist majority is unlikely. Only 28% likely sayeth El PaĂs. So that leaves us with whether ERC will take the risk of jumping into bed with the PSC. Or whether having Comuns Sumar in the mix (likely necessary) will lead to something unpredictable, like Comuns pushing the PSCâs Illa to keep Aragonès atop the Generalitat, a la Borgen? Or⌠new elections anyone?
Oh, letâs be honest, we donât know what will happen. So lets hear what the candidates are saying. Maybe they know something?
The candidates clashed Tuesday night in a debate on Cataloniaâs regional channel TV3 (all the candidates except for Puigdemont because, you know, heâs a fugitive). They discussed the issues that you would expect, like a potential unlikely independence referendum, crime and safety, the drought and unholy alliances.
PSCâs Illa, who is trying to thread the Catalan needleâthat is, he wants sympathy from nationalists and separatists alikeâannounced that as regional president he would tap Josep LluĂs Trapero as head of the Catalan police.
Why? Trapero is a Catalan folk hero. He was the police chief during the 2017 illegal referendum and seemed friendly to the cause because he was tossed from his post when the central government took over Catalonia. But then after he was restored to the job in 2020, he seemed a little too friendly with the central government and was removed again (by the ERC). And now Illa wants him back because âsecurityâ is very relevant. And because heâs like a famous hacky sack.
So how likely is it weâll get referendum 2.0 any time soon? It depends. (Ok, probs not.)
Separatists: ERCâs Aragonès and Junts
candidatePuigdemont stand-in Josep Rull avoided direct confrontation and agreed that they wanted to hold a referendum supported by the central government (er, unlikely to impossible) and have Catalonia manage its own taxes (more likely). And that ice cream is really nice đŚ.PSCâs Illa does not support any of this, of course, and instead insisted on applying something called a âTax Consortiumâ between Spain and Catalonia, which is mentioned in the regionâs Statute of Autonomy but is also boring.
Unholy alliances. Junts has said thereâs no way in hell theyâll make a deal with the PSC to form a coalition government (Illaâs response? âOk, then neither will we with youâ đ¤Ş).
Junts also say they wonât make a deal with
nutjobnewcomer Aliança Catalana, a separatist party thatâs further right than Vox (yes, you read that right), as âhuman rights are a red lineâ for Puigdemont. Which is good for Puigdemont, we guess.
Oh, and the PP tried to remind the world this it also exists in Catalonia.
Donât worry about the PP candidate there. We canât remember his name either. But PP boss Alberto Núùez FeijĂło warned that Illa, Puigdemont and AragonĂŠs âare the sameâ and that no matter who wins, Prime Minister Pedro SĂĄnchez will have no choice but to âkeep separatism in powerâ (because he needs their votes in Parliament). Which may be true but nobody listens to the PP in Catalonia.
Top troll Madrid regional president Isabel DĂaz Ayuso (PP) went to a rally in Barcelona, where she warned that Illa is the âxenophobic separatismâs Trojan horseâ. So weâve got that.
Wait, did anyone talk about coalitions they wanted? Um, no. That canât be a good sign.
More news below! đ
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đŹ Five things to discuss at dinner parties this week
1. đŚđˇ Spain and Argentina decided it was a great time to insult each other
Argentinaâs new president, self-described âanarcho-capitalistâ Javier Milei, can be somewhat, um, âvolatileâ, as evidenced by his many outbursts on live television against anyone who even dares sympathize with leftist ideas. Oh, and his swinging around an active chain saw at rallies.
But one of the tenets of diplomacy is not always pointing out things like âMilei seems nuttyâ just because theyâre true. (We of course can point those things out because we are so not diplomatic.)
That may be especially true when you already have a tense relationship. Like between Spainâs PSOE socialist-led government and Milei, whoâs chummy with far-right Voxâs big boss Santiago Abascal.
But somebody didnât get that memo. Weâre talking to you, Spanish Transport Minister Ăscar Puente.
Puente took the opportunity of a visit to the PSOEâs School of Government (a party event for young people) in Salamanca last Friday to bag on Mileiâon a hot mike. Whoops!
Puenteâs words. âIâve seen [Milei] on TV and, based on what I heard,â Puente said. âI donât know what state he was in⌠Before or after consuming whatever substancesâŚâ Basically, he suggested Milei had been drugged up during last year's election campaign.
Puente takes great pleasure dissing political opponentsâwhich is why he was named a minister (letâs just say heâs not exactly an expert on transport)âand he probably thought going after Milei would look cool in front of the kids.Â
ButâŚsurprise! Suggesting that Milei was doped up didnât land well.
Cue diplomatic crisis. The Argentine government immediately responded by issuing a statement that ârepudiatedâ Puenteâs statements. However, rather than just focusing on the minister, the Milei administration decided to escalate and attack Prime Minister Pedro SĂĄnchez by basically repeating Vox talking points.
SĂĄnchez has âbigger problems to deal withâ, the statement read, and mentioned the corruption allegations against his wife, BegoĂąa GĂłmez, the agreements with âseparatistsâ that endangered the âunity of the kingdomâ, âillegal immigrationâ that allegedly put women in danger, and âhis socialist policies that only bring poverty and deathâ.Â
But thereâs more! Argentinaâs Interior Minister, Guillermo Francos, repeatedly called for Puente to be removed from office, assuring that Milei âdoesnât even drink alcohol.â
Some domestic fighting, too. To make things worse, Milei is expected to land in Madrid next week to attend Voxâs Europa Viva 24 rally and support his buddy Abascal (the event is the kick off for the June 9 European elections campaign).Â
Letâs just move on, please. The Spanish government immediately clutched its (probably Majorica) pearls and issued its own statement âcategorically rejecting the termsâ, arguing that âthey do not correspond with the relationsâ of two kindred nations. As in, we donât need to fight right now.
Where was the PP in all this? Party boss Alberto Núùez FeijĂło said that Puente had to go. âTheyâve just created a crisis with a kindred nation,â he said. âThey ask not to be insulted, and yet they insult everyoneâ.Â
Abascal also jumped in (obviously), criticizing the SĂĄnchez administrations ânew attempts of victimizationâ and adding that Mileyâs response to Puentesâ âgrave insultsâ had been âvery measuredâ. Â
Allâs well that ends well. In the end, neither country wanted to deal with this nonsense so they decided to just move on.
Milei administration spokesperson Manuel Adorni said Monday that the matter was âoverâ and that âthere was no need for escalationâ. (He did say, however, that he didnât think the Argentine presidentâs response was disproportionate).Â
Still, there are no plans for a Milei-SĂĄnchez meeting during the Argentine presidentâs visit next week (no surprise thereâthere were no plans before the conflict) but didnât rule out asking for a one-on-one with King Felipe VI as he is Spain's Head of State after all (will F6 agree to it? Unlikely).Â
And Puente? He issued a non-apology for the whole thing: had he known how much ârepercussionâ his words would have, he âwouldnât have saidâ what he said. Right.
2. đ Central government calls bullđŠ on bullfighting
Spainâs Culture Minister got the bullfighting community all cranky this week when he canceled the Premio Nacional de Tauromaquia (National Bullfighting Prize) over âanimal tortureâ. Seriously, the only thing that we could imagine would cause a greater uprising in a minor sports community would be if Canadian PM Justin Trudeau had outlawed curling.
Sorry! Culture, not sport. Bullfighting is a cultural expression, not a sport, which is why the culture minister oversees it and it appears in the culture section of the newspapers. Still, itâs sorta sporty, right? Like ballet + giant cows + pointy swords.Â
But seriously, it really is considered culture. The prize was created in 2011 byâsurprise!âthe Socialist government of JosĂŠ Luis RodrĂguez Zapatero to recognize bullfighting as an âartistic disciplineâ and bestow âŹ30,000 on the winner. By comparison, the âMiguel de Cervantesâ Prize for Literature in the Spanish Language gives out âŹ125,000, so bullfighting is worth about 25% of literature as far as arts go. (Though the National Prize for Narrative Literature is only âŹ20,000, so maybe bullfighting is 150% literature. We donât know đą!).
So what happened? Culture Minister Ernest Urtasun (of the far lefty Sumar part of the governing coalition) canceled the prize last Friday, saying that, âSpaniards do not understand that animal torture is being rewarded with public money.âÂ
This may be true. The number of bull events has been plunging for years, from 3,651 in 2007 to 1,474 in 2013. (The ministry also pointed journalists to stats showing that only 1.9% of Spaniards went to a bull event in 2021/2, compared to around 8% in 2019, but with the pandemic, that is a weak comparison).Â
But for bullfighting regions, those were fighting words. The FundaciĂłn del Toro de Lidia, which defends bullfighting, called Urtasun an âsectarian extremistâ, and the Socialist boss of Castilla La Mancha Emiliano GarcĂa-Page said that he would put together a regional bullfighting prize. (Madrid, AragĂłn and Extremadura also announced plans for prizes.)
Still, bullfighting looks like its days are numbered. Catalonia and Canary Islands are already bullfight-free, and in a 2023 survey, 45.7% of respondents said bullfighting should be banned, while 24% said it should be supported and 30.3% said neither of the two. Shocker, the split was on political linesâwith the right backing bullfighting, and the left pushing its cancellation. More we can be polarized about!!!
3.  đĽ Not what you expect at a âGarfieldâ movie
A showing of The Garfield Movie in LeĂłn turned into a boxing matchâliterallyâwhen boxer Antonio Barrul brought some ring justice to the theater.
Barrul âEl VolcĂĄnâ (The Volcano) was there on May 1 to see the movie with his wife and kids when he apparently noticed a guy down front acting aggressively toward his girlfriend (assumed) and a child (apparently theirs).
Things got weird when the woman moved to another seat to avoid him and the man said, amid insults and shouts, that he would give her five minutes to return. Then things calmed downâfor a bit.Â
But, but, but⌠The man went over and grabbed the woman by the neck, and during a shoving match, managed to hit a girl.
Barrul at this point went down to the man and told him to leave. But the guy began to insult and threaten him. Still, noticing this his wife was crying, Barrul sat down.
Enough wasnât enough. The other guy apparently went on insulting him (the usual macho stuffâperro and maricĂłn and the like) and the security guard didnât come, so Barrul lost his sh*t. Or, as Barrul said, âI got an impulse and what happened happened.â
What happened was a massive beating given by Barrul to the other guy (see video above if you like). And here the controversy (of sorts) begins.Â
Barrul has been supported by the vast majority of online commentators for stopping an episode of violencia machista. But some have noted his lack of self control and how it was the insults that seemed to set him off, and how as a boxer he could be sanctioned for using his âtoolsâ outside the ring.Â
Examples: âWell, it is better to take away your license if you are not capable of receiving threats and verbal insults without attacking someone,â and, âNo matter what you say now, one cannot take the law into one's own hands, because it is also a crime.â
Barrul says the boxing federations support him so far, so it looks like the incident may be closed on that front (save for the massive wave of publicity heâs gotten).
So who is Antonio Barrul? The 25-year-old boxer is 5-0 professionally after a 4-14 amateur career. He next fights on June 14 in Puente Castro.Â
Trivia: Barrul seems to fight at junior featherweight (supergallo)â54-55kg or 118-122lbs. Maybe thatâs what the cinema dipshit thought he could insult him at will. But âSuper Chickenâ packs a punch!
4. đ¨âđ¨ That Caravaggio painting sold for over âŹ30m
If when you think of âEcce Homoâ this modern masterpiece comes to mind, no one would blame you. However, thereâs a new âEcce Homoâ in the news this week and this one is less modern but definitely more of a masterpiece. You see, it was painted by none other than Caravaggio, making it one of only 60 or so known works by the Italian artist and Baroque genius.
Almost screwed that up: The oil painting, which originally appeared for auction in Madrid in March 2021, has been sold for a whooping âŹ36m. But funnily enough, its initial auction price was âŹ1,500 because it was attributed to a lesser painter. Like a seriously lesser painter. Whoops!
The subject. Caravaggioâs âEcce Homoâ (âBehold the manâ) depicts the historical motif of the Roman governor Pontius Pilate presenting Christ to the people with those words, one of the most dramatic moments of the Passion, recorded in the Gospel of John (19:5). Â
So who bought it? Local media says the private buyer decided to remain anonymous, but apparently they are a British citizen residing in Spain. (Since they could potentially be a Tapa reader, weâd kindly like to ask them to invest in us too).
The painting was previously owned by the PĂŠrez de Castro family, who inherited it from liberal politician Evaristo PĂŠrez de Castro). Â
It belongs to us all. Fortunately for us plebs, the painting will not end up in the buyer's house. âThey are very generous, they don't want the attention to be focused on them. The idea is for it to be in public collections, at the moment, on loan,â said Jorge Coll, from the antique art gallery Colnaghi, which was in charge of the sale.
Or then again, maybe they just canât take it away. The artwork was designated a Cultural Interest Asset (BIC) by the Madrid regional government in 2021, which means that, while it can be purchased by a private individual, it cannot be sold or even leave the region (let alone the country) without permission of the autonomous community.
And Spainâs Ministry of Culture has declared it to be non-exportable, meaning that sure, you can buy it, but it can never leave the country (it can be temporarily loaned to other museums abroad, yes, but you will need a permit for that). Â
These conditions definitely limited the selling price, as experts have said that it could have been sold for over âŹ100m (the âŹ36m tag is well below Caravaggioâs market value). Â
So where and when can I see it? Great news. It will be exhibited at the Prado Museum between May 28 and October 2024. After that itâs unclear, but will be either there or some other art institution. According to the Ministry of Culture, what happens and where itâs exhibited next is up to the buyer.Â
Weâll probably include it as an activity in The Tapa Weekend soon.Â
5.  đŽ Lots of people in Ibiza wonât be happy about this
Spainâs Guardia Civil busted a gigantic cocaine lab near Madrid last week. And âgiganticâ isnât hyperbole. In the April 30 raid, announced May 6, the Guardia Civil arrested 20 suspects and dismantled a coke lab that could produce 100kg of the drug each month. That wouldnât be a lot of beef, but thatâs enough to supply Ibiza for, like, at least two weeks!
Working together with Europol and the U.S. DEA, the Guardia Civil seized 21 drums of liquid and solid chemicals used to extract and process cocaine.
The bust also searched 27 properties in the Galician provinces of Pontevedra and A CoruĂąa, as well as Madrid, and led to the seizure of âŹ3m cash and âŹ10m of assets like luxury houses, vehicles and recreational vessels.
The process: Police think the people arrestedâ19 Spaniards and one Colombianâimported tons of cocaine and coca leaves from South America to Spain using chartered sailboats and catamarans between Galicia and South America..
To maximize profits, the Galicia-based criminal gang supposedly used the lab in the Madrid suburbs where they extracted coke from the coca leaves.
So whatâs up with Coke Busts in the Spanish Spring? Just a year ago, police busted cocaine âmega labâ in Galicia with 200kg daily capacity (making the current one sorta small). Maybe we should ask Galicia-born PP leader Alberto NuĂąez Feijoo, whose old photo with buddy/later drug trafficker Marcial Dorado is by rule always reposted at moments like this (like when a narcosub turned up off the Galicia coast last March, which we covered).Â
For shits and giggles only, we leave you with the old photo. Youâre welcome.
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"which is mentioned in the regionâs Statute of Autonomy but is also boring"
Dy. Ing. !! đđđ
"Since they could potentially be a Tapa reader, weâd kindly like to ask them to invest in us too" - great plug! Hope it works.