Simon Harris's Blog

From midnight on Monday, Spain established rigorous control of its land borders with France and Portugal for the duration of the state of alarm due to coronavirus. Only Spanish citizens and residents, cross-border workers, freight transport and a few other exceptions will be able to enter.

The measure was announced by interior minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska at a press conference from Madrid on Monday. The measure does not affect air and sea borders, but action on that front is not ruled out. This decision is in addition to the European Commission’s proposal this Monday to close its foreign borders for a month.

The Spanish interior minister announced the measure, after participating in a video conference at a combined European Council meeting interior and health ministers of EU member states’. Marlaska said that reestablishing border controls “is a necessary, reasonable and proportionate initiative.”

Marlaska did not rule it out applying the same restrictions to air and sea borders in the future. “All options may be considered,” he said. Spain’s move affects France and Portugal in the EU, but also Andorra and the UK border with Gibraltar.

The exceptions to this border closure measures are Spanish citizens, foreigners residing in Spain, cross-border workers, diplomatic or international organizations based in Spain, and people who have to enter for reasons of force majeure.

The measure won’t be applied to the transport of goods, in order to avoid shortage situations. It is being considered whether the Spanish army may participate in the control of land borders in coordination with Spain’s police forces and autonomous regional police.

“All Spanish and European citizens can feel protected by the actions of the authorities as a whole,” Fernando Grande-Marlaska said in a press conference. “We are united in our fight against this public health crisis,” he added. The main purpose of these measures is to “flatten the curve” of the graph of people infected, he said.

Rail and air routes to Portugal closed

In the case of the border between Spain and Portugal, the two countries have also agreed to suspend the air and rail connections. This decision was made public by the Portuguese authorities, in a press conference at the same time as Marlaska’s, although the Spanish minister made no reference to it. This cut will also start from midnight. Flights between Spain and Italy were already suspended last week.

European borders

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has proposed this Monday closing the EU’s external borders due to coronavirus for 30 days, with a few exceptions.

EU residents and family, diplomatic corps members, coronavirus containment personnel, transport workers and customs staff. In addition, food and medical supplies would be given preferential access would not be affected by this closure.

The Spanish government deployed the Spanish army Military Emergencies Unit (UME) on Sunday to cities where there a greater risk of coronavirus spread: Madrid, Valencia, Seville and Zaragoza, the Ministry of Defence reported.

The Military Emergencies Unit will also be activated in León, Las Palmas and Santa Cruz de Tenerife, in areas of these cities where there is a high risk of virus spread. Military sources stated that their work will consist of going to “critically crowded locations in case disinfection actions are needed”.

In addition, the Ministry of Defence has decided to activate military doctors in the reserve and instructions have been given to the military pharmacy to increase the production of hydroalcoholic disinfectant solution, as well as other generic medicines that may be necessary.

These are some of the first decisions made by Minister of Defence Margarita Robles, who held a meeting with the military and Ministry leadership to implement the state of alarm decree.

This meeting was attended by Spanish secretary of state Ángel Olivares, Chief of Defence Staff Miguel Ángel Villarroya, Undersecretary of Defence Alejo De la Torre, secretary of General Policy Juan Francisco Núñez; Spanish army operations commander Fernando José López del Pozo, and head of the Military Emergencies Unit Luis Martínez Meijide.

Details of Spain’s state of alarm were revealed on Saturday during an extraordinary meeting of Pedro Sánchez’s cabinet.

According to a draft of the decree, the measures include an almost total prohibition on movement by the population during the period of the state of alarm, which will last for at least fifteen days, with the possibility of extension. The public will only be able to move around for essential activities, such as buying food or pharmaceutical products.

After reacting late to a crisis that was already out of control, the Spanish government is now rushing to take steps to contain the pandemic. The measures do not include the isolation of the main source of contagion: the region of Madrid. The measures will come into force when they are published in the Spanish government gazette, except those relating to transport, which will come into effect on Monday at 8am.

The set of measures is broad, and involves a great deal of power recentralisation. The closure of businesses and premises, already announced by some regional governments, is being extended throughout the Spanish state. Spain’s armed forces are mobilized and have been placed under the supervision of the Ministry of the Interior. The police of the autonomous regions, such as Catalonia’s Mossos d’Esquadra, will also come under the direction of Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska. Three more ministers will have powers to act over the autonomous communities.

According to the draft decree, while the state of alarm continues, members of the public will only be able to go outside for the following activities

Acquisition of food, pharmaceuticals and basic necessities.Visits to healthcare centres.Travel to workplace in order to work.Return to place of habitual residence.Assistance to and care of the elderly, minors, dependents, people with disabilities or especially vulnerable people.Travel to banking institutionsDue to force majeure or situation of need.Any other activity of a similar nature duly justified.

The mobility of vehicles for these activities or for refueling at petrol stations will also be allowed. The decree concludes that “in any case, in any movement the recommendations and obligations dictated by the health authorities must be respected”.

In addition, the Spanish interior minister has the power to close highways, or sections of them, “for reasons of public health, safety or traffic flow”.

Public Transport

Public transport has not been closed down, but services are reduced. “The operators will reduce the overall total supply of operations by at least 50% (or between 40-60%, given that with the reduction of tickets that can be sold per vehicle, total mobility will be greatly reduced”), says the draft. Public road, rail, air and sea passenger transport services that are subject to public contracts or public service obligations will reduce their total offer by at least the following percentages:

Commuter train services: 50% (40-60% option).Medium distance train services: 50% (40-60% option).Medium-distance train services AVANT: 50% (40-60% option).Regular road passenger transport services: 50% (40-60% option).

Interior Minister Takes Control

The decree states that “the members of the State Security Forces and Corps, the Police Corps of the Autonomous Communities and Local Corporations will be under the direct orders of the head of the Ministry of the Interior, for the purposes of this decree, to the extent necessary for the protection of persons, goods and places, and may impose on them services that are extraordinary in terms of their duration or nature.” These police officers, including those of Catalonia’s Mossos d’Esquadra, “will be able to carry out checks on people, goods, vehicles, premises and establishments” to prevent prohibited activities from being carried out.

In the same way, the Army is being mobilized, with the ability to act to “ensure the proper operation” of the provisions of the state of alarm decree, and in particular with regard to measures to guarantee food supply.

This provision with regard to police officers is also replicated with regard to healthcare personnel. The draft states that “all the authorities of the public administrations” in Spanish territory, “and in particular the health authorities”, as well as the civil servants and workers who are in their service, will be under the orders of the Spanish health minister, Salvador Illa, when “it is necessary for the protection of people, property and places.”

More Power for Ministries than Communities

Apart from the Spanish prime minister, the key authority figures will be the defence minister, Margarita Robles, the Interior Minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, the Transport Minister, José Luis Ábalos, and the Health Minister, Salvador Illa. According to the decree, “they are qualified to make the necessary agreements, resolutions, provisions and instructions”. These “acts, provisions and measures” may be adopted “ex officio or motivated by the request of the regional and local authorities” and “will not require any administrative procedure”. In the case of health, the powers are currently fully transferred to Spain’s autonomous communities, but the state will recover them if it is necessary.

Barcelona and the surrounding towns are coming to resemble London or Paris as acts of violence are perpetrated with ever increasing frequency by immigrants. I found this video on Facebook and it was taken from an apartment window in Viladecans, a small town close to Barcelona Airport.

The video shows an immigrant wielding a machete menacingly as a policeman (Guardia Urbana I think) talks him down while pointing a taser at him. The policeman eventually the immigrant, knocks the machete out of his hand, knocks him to the ground and arrests him. Well done that man!

The video commentary is not really worth translating but consists of repeated “Madre mias” and “Que pasa?” (What’s going on?). The girl filming is clearly coming to the realisation of the terror and horror that our left-wing politicians’ open door policy will bring to this beautiful country.

Incidentally, Viladecans is home to a Migrant Centre, whose inmates have perpetrated multiple acts of violence and robbery over recent years.

When I search Internet for any reports on this incident in Viladecans I found nothing!

This is the first edition of what I hope will become a regular feature.

Sunday May 5th



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The main headline on Sunday was that the Spanish Constitutional Court would set limits for the application of Article 155 in Catalonia. The Constitutional Court says it supports the suspension of Catalan autonomy in 2017 but thinks the use of Article 155 should be reserved for serious incidents. The court also debated whether it was appropriate to dissolve Parliament.

The main photo shows defeated Partido Popular leader Pablo Casado with the President of Galicia Albert Nuñez Feijóo. It seems that Casado has been told by the strongest figure on the moderate wing of the party that he should stop flirting with Vox’s “far right” ideas and concentrate on winning back support from more centrist voters, who have been captured by Ciudadanos.

Monday May 6th



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On Monday, the news was that the Supreme Court had given exiled former Catalan President Carles Puigdemont permission to be a candidate for the European Parliament and sent the case back to the Madrid tribunal for the ex-president’s appeal to be resolved immediately. The Lliures per Europa (Junts) was confident that the JEC’s veto will be revoked today.

Other news mentions that Justice Minister, Carmen Delgado had walked out of meeting in Mauthausen because a member of the Catalan government had referred former Catalan Foreign Minister Raül Romeva as a “political prisoner”.

The bottom piece tells us that Pedro Sánchez would be starting the first round of meetings with the leaders of other parties in order to reach agreements for the investiture vote that will allow him to form a government.

The photo is titled Rain of Bombs and shows the effects of a recent escalation of the conflict between Israel and Palestine. I obviously have my opinion on this but will be commenting relatively little on these kind of issues on this channel.

Tuesday May 7th



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The main headline and phote refer to the fact that Sánchez and Casado are about open the route to dialogue over Catalonia as the president and the head of the opposition restart their relationship nine months later. The PP leader asked for a pact with Cs and not with the independence parties because he wants Ciudadanos, his rival for the centre right vote, to be seen as leftist collaborators.

Other news is that the Supreme Court have ruled that Puigdemont can be a candidate in the EU elections but that the Partido Popular will appeal the decision to the Constitutional Court.

The final headline is that Spanish employment figure have reached pre-crisis levels but there are fewer industrial jobs.

Wednesday May 8th



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The main news was that Sánchez would confirm Pablo Iglesias, leader of the left-wing Podemos party, as his preferred partner in government.

Yesterday, he showed how his relationship with the main parties would be with PP and Cs as opposition and Podemos as an ally . He finished the first round satisfied that a stable government would be possible.

The photo shows a picture of FC Barcelona’s 4-0 defeat in Anfield against Liverpool, which will mean they fail to reach the Champions League final yet again.

The photo accompanying this post comes from Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC), the left-wing supposedly pro-Catalan independence party, whose name translates as the Catalan Republican Left.

The message is Happy Ramadan in various languages, the last of which is Feliç Ramadà in Catalan.

It’s interesting that ERC, whose leader Oriol Junqueras claims to be a Christian, wishes Catalonia’s Muslims happy Ramadan but failed to wish its Christian faithful and secular cultural Christians, who are the majority in Catalonia, a happy Easter.

They also continually talk of La República (the Republic) rather than an independent Catalonia. I wonder what kind of republic they are talking.

Having spoken to many of their higher ups over the years, I’m quite certain they would be happy with an Islamic Republic of Catalonia. After all, many of them support a mega-mosque in the the Catalan capital, Barcelona.

Incidentally, Barcelona was liberated from its Muslim conquerors in 801 AD and was a bastion of the Catalan Reconquista throughout the medieval period so opening the gates again to Islamic invaders and touting for the Muslim vote is a direct betrayal of Catalan history and culture.

[image error]Esquerra Republicana wishes Muslims a Happy Ramadan!

A group of MENAS, which is the acronym for Unaccompanied Minors (a euphemism for young Moroccan or Algerian migrants) have caused terror amongst the residents of a building in Carrer Lluís el Piadós in the Barri Gòtic, where they have occupied an apartment in the central Ciutat Vella district of Barcelona.

The residents tried to stop them from occupying the flat and they responded with extreme violence using fists and belts. “We’ve spent two nights without sleeping. And all of us are terrified. They set dogs on us that bite. You see weapons. You see knives.” said one of the residents.

But the MENAs don’t care about the residents or the presence of the urban police. Infact, they stroll in front of the local police with a mattress that they hide between two cars and later take inside the building. The next day, they throw it out of the window together with clothes and other objects. If the residents close the main door, they climb up the outside of the building.

These are dangerous Maghrebi minors, who are very aggressive. And in spite of everything, the local police say they can’t do anything.

Two separate incidents of violence involving Latin American immigrants in Barcelona. In the first, they are attacking security guards at Ciutadella/Vila Ilímpica metro station near the beach in Barcelona. In both, they are attacking, the Catalan police (Mossos d’Esquadra) somewhere on the outskirts. In both, they warn the guards/officers that they are being filmed and warn them that they’ll lose their jobs thus making it difficult to do their jobs.

On the afternoon of Tuesday October 10th, a few hours before Carles Puigdemont’s expected Declaration of Independence, I went down to Passeig de Lluís Companys, which was being prepared to house large crowds that evening.

I got to Arc de Triomf a little after 4 pm to have a look at how Passeig de Lluís Companys was being prepared for large crowds to follow Carles Puigdemont’s declaration. I had made a video earlier that day commenting on the exaggerated level of violence and nobody was sure what Puigdemont would actually say.

I wondered what kind of language he’d use use in his statement and doubted that he’d use the words “Unilateral” or “Independence” but instead would prefer “Sovereignty” and “the Catalan Republic”. He would also reiterate the importance of Catalan law and the results of the referendum and that he is simply following the will of the Catalan people. He would deliberately mince his words because he was fully aware that the only way forward for Catalonia was to persuade an international actor, such as the EU, to mediate between the two sides.

I suspected that the Spanish government really wanted to interpret anything said as a full declaration of independence so that they could invoke Article 155, react with violence and suspend the Catalan autonomy.

I walked through the Arc de Triomf down Passeig de Lluís Companys and once again the farmers had come in from the countryside and there were a hundred or so tractors, most of which had esteladas flying from them. There were relatively few people as yet but there definitely was an atmosphere of expectation.

Carles Puigdemont was in a difficult position. He couldn’t really back down because his most diehard supporters, the people who would congregate on Passeig de Lluís Companys later on, were hoping for a full-blown Declaration of Independence. He needed to phrase what he said in such a way as to keep his supporters happy and leave the door open to international mediation. The best way to do this would be to make the Spanish look as unreasonable as possible without provoking their ire and the invocation of Article 155.

There were two massive screens about halfway down the Passeig. It was clear that massive crowds were expected. I was aware that I’d get a better understanding of what was going on.

Even though it was still early, the difference in the way the Catalans and Spanish do things was obvious. The unionist demonstrations a few days earlier had been boisterous and noisy with a mainly festive atmosphere but plenty of insults and occasional outbursts of violence. There was no doubt that this rally would be a lot more orderly affair, emotional but restrained and impeccably polite at all times.

Overlooking Passeig de Lluìs Companys is the Palau de Justicia, the Palace of Justice, which is the seat of the Tribunal Superior de Catalunya, the Catalan High Court. It was now being policed by Spanish National Police and might well be where the Catalan politicians would be brought should the Spanish government decide to make mass arrests.

Further up the Passeig, a group of stewards was receiving instructions from an ANC organiser with a megaphone. He was stressing that there needed to be order and that everything needed to be peaceful, civilised and good.humoured.

As the days went by, particularly after the unionist rally, it was becoming increasingly clear to me that the only way forward was international mediation and an agreed binding referendum. Catalan society was obviously split and if Spain continued with its bully boy tactics, this would end very badly.

I walked back through Arc de Triomf and up Passeig de Sant Joan towards home.

On the morning of Tuesday October 10th, the day Carles Puigdemont was expected to declare independence, I made a video about the general level of violence, threats and repression being perpetrated by the Spanish state in Catalonia.

According to the Referendum Law passed on September 6th and the referendum results, Puigdemont was expected to declare independence from Spain. The Spanish government was putting on the pressure in case this happened and it was looking increasingly likely that it would invoke Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution that would effectively remove the Catalan government from power.

Nobody in Catalonia had really been surprised by the police violence on October 1st, but given the level of brutality, the Catalan position was that an international arbiter should intervene. Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union, which is an EU infringement procedure to be used against member countries that have committed fundamental rights violations, states in 7.1 that the Council can give a formal warning to any country accused of violating fundamental rights and if this doesn’t have the desired effect, Article 7.2 would impose sanctions and suspend voting rights.

It was clear from the pictures and videos that fundamental rights had been violated. There had been pictures of old ladies getting dragged by the police and having their faces bloodied. Excessive violence was used by police as they attacked voters outside polling stations to such an extent that it looked like the police were enjoying themselves. There were so many clips of them baton charging peaceful voters with their open palms raised in a sign of surrender that it was clear that they had been ordered to behave as aggressively as possible. They raided polling stations and took away ballot boxes as voters looked on chanting “Som gent de pau.” (We are people of peace.) More pictures of bloodied voters, the effects of rubber bullets on peoples bodies were appalling leaving massive circular bruises.

One of the most shown clips was of people in a school sitting on the stairs and in the hallway. Police were picking up people and manhandling them as if they were rag dolls. In another clip a bloodied man is being escorted across a square by a friend as the armoured and helmeted police look on. The friend obviously says something about the level of violence and four or five police officers attack him with their batons and beat him to the ground. This goes way beyond what any professional police force would do. In another video, a Guardia Civil car actually swerves and tries to hit voters.

There were a total of at least 365 videos showing police violence but amazingly the Spanish media were claiming it was fake news and some international outlets were believing them. This had led some of my expat friends in other parts of Spain to claim that the Catalans had made the story up to try and trick the foreign media.

The levels of police brutality should be no surprise as the Spanish police have close connections with the Spanish far right, who are not only Spanish nationalists but look back on Franco’s dictatorship as a golden era. Following the unionist demonstration in Barcelona, Spanish national police officers were seen with extremist elements in the h3 bar next to the main Barcelona police station on Via Laietana. They were caught on camera shouting “sieg heil” and making Nazi salutes.

I had been fair in the video I made on the day, admitting that I disagreed with Spanish unionists but accepted their right to hold a differing opinion. I certainly didn’t think most of them were fascists, which is a term that is thrown around too lightly these days anyway.

However, the behaviour of the Spanish government, the Spanish police and a small but significant minority of demonstrators definitely showed signs of authoritarian and totalitarian attitudes. A large part of this is comprised of hating everything Catalan.

There were plenty of clips of demonstrators doing Nazi salutes outside the police station on Via Laietana with the police calmly looking on. Some of them were actually smiling about it. There is something fundamentally wrong with a country where openly supporting Nazism is OK but voting is illegal, which is precisely why Catalonia wants to leave.

Another interesting image from Sunday was members of the Spanish military, dressed in uniform, marching in the demonstration alongside the civilian protesters against Catalan independence in favour of Spanish unity. Whatever privately held beliefs members of the Spanish police and military might have, and it doesn’t surprise me at all that they are patriotic Spanish, surely it is inappropriate for them to express political opinions when dressed in uniform. Their job is to be bystanders protecting the public rather than being on one side or the other.

This was why international mediation was necessary and Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union needed to be triggered.

There were also violent altercations on Sunday. One of the videos I came across was of a journalist being attacked by a gang of Spanish nationalist hooligans in the Barcelona neighbourhood of Guinardó. Similarly, in València, where a very large minority of the population speak Catalan, there was a demonstration in support of Catalan independence. The reaction of the Spanish-speaking majority was predictable. There were counter demonstrations with fascist salutes as they sang the Spanish national anthem and anti-Catalan chants. Later in the day pro-referendum demonstrators were violently attacked by gangs of Spanish nationalist thugs as they made there way home from their own demonstration.

None of this was at all surprising given the attitude of the Spanish government, who on the same day began replacing Catalan Mossos d’Esquadra with Spanish National Police. One of these was the Catalan High Court, the Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Catalunya, whose headquarters are on Passeig Lluís Companys, close to the Parc de la Ciutadella and the Catalan Parliament. According to the Statute of Autonomy, the Catalan Judiciary should be policed by the Mossos d’Esquadra. However, on Monday October 9th, Spanish National Police appeared at the courtrooms and began patrolling.

This was ominous because given the political climate, it suggested that the Spanish government expected Carles Puigdemont to make a declaration of independence on Tuesday October 10th, which would lead to the invocation of Article 155, arrests of prominent political figures being made and the Catalan High Court being put to use. Furthermore, buy taking over the Catalan judiciary, the Spanish authorities would be able to act against regular citizens without fear of being brought before the justice system.

All this came across very clearly in the press conference given by Pablo Casado, the spokesperson of the Partido Popular, who said “We saw that on October 6th, the 83rd anniversary of Company’s Declaration of Independence passed by unnoticed. I believe history shouldn’t be repeated, and let’s hope tomorrow nothing will be declared, because maybe the one who declares it will end up like the one will end up like the one who declared it 83 years ago.”

This provoked a responses from Julian Assange which said “EU silence has now led to this: Spain’s ruling political party just made a barely veiled threat to have Catalonia’s current president shot.” The exchange refers to Catalan president Lluís Companys, who declared independence for Catalonia in 1934 and was arrested and imprisoned as a result. He was released after the Popular Front came to power in 1936 and was president of Catalonia throughout the Spanish Civil War. After Franco’s victory, Companys fled to France, where he was captured by the Gestapo, returned to Spain and executed by firing squad on Montjuïc in Barcelona on October 15th 1940.

The statement makes it clear that the Partido Poular are in fact Franco’s heirs. The fact that they make allusions to crimes committed during the dictatorship is really frightening and only served to emphasises the need for external mediation.

If Carles Puigdemont made a Declaration of Independence, as expected, then the shit would really hit the fan. Article 155 would be invoked anf the Spanish authorities would use whatever force necessary to put it into practice. This was worrying for CAtalonia, worrying for Spanish democracy and made the European Union look like an ineffectual bunch of hypocrites.