Spanish ultranationalist unionists, a threat for democratic Catalan people

While 1.600.000 Catalans were holding hands forming a human chain this September 11 in favour of the independence of Catalonia, fifteen people broke into the Cultural Center Blaquerna of Madrid, the Catalan government’s headquarters. They threw tear gas at the attendants and assaulted the CiU deputy Josep Sánchez Llibre. This was an act of defiance to show their disagreement with secession and contrasts with the pacifism of the Catalans, who formed a human chain from Pertús to Alcanar without any incidents. Among the right-wing group that burst into Blaquerna with a Nazi greeting and the intention to boycott the conference by Sánchez Llibre, there was the cousin of the Minister of Defence, Peter Morenés, as well as the brother-in-law of Mendez Vigo, Secretary of State of the European Union and son of Manuel Fraga, the ex-treasurer of Alianza Popular (the precursor of the current ruling party in Spain).
This "loutish and fascistic" attack, as the Catalan spokesman described it, "is a clear example of the anti-democratic character and violence shared by a fraction of the populations in Spain who is not in favour of the independence of Catalonia". They are encouraged by some of the most unionist sectors of the press in the country, who call the Catalans "Nazi", "fascist" and "Stalinists", and even brand them of having some links wit with ETA. In Catalonia they also have support through Gerard Bellalta, the leader of the PEC (Spanish Party of Catalonia), who believes that everyone who wants to secede from the "homeland" deserves to be shot.

It is not the first time that a right-wing group carries out a barbaric attack. This way they have demonstrated not only their opposition to the democratic system, which through the Constitution provides for the possibility of holding a referendum, but also made it clear what their methods are.