Pedro Sánchez's government tries to delete the Russian plot of the 2017 coup in Catalonia

Spain is witnessing events of unprecedented gravity that directly affect national security.

What Sánchez already knew about the Russian plot when he offered amnesty to Puigdemont
Russia's support for separatism in Spain and the support of Spanish separatists for Russia

Félix Bolaños: “There has been no Russian plot to support Catalan independence”

This Thursday, in a statement before the Joint Committee on National Security of Congress, the Minister of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Courts, the socialist, Félix Bolaños, has affirmed that "there has been no Russian plot in support of Catalan independence", and has stated that with the facts that are known and sticking to the judicial processes, "one cannot speak" of its existence.

A blatant lie about interference confirmed by the Civil Guard

In other countries, lying in parliament would cost any minister his job, but here in Spain a minister can lie so blatantly without causing a scandal. Not only does Bolaños lie, he also does so with cynicism. The contacts between Russia and Catalan separatism became known in 2020 through an investigation by the Civil Guard, which revealed that the separatists boasted that the Russian government offered them 10,000 soldiers and to pay the Catalan debt as support in the separatist coup of 2017.

On these facts, in 2022 the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) brought to light the contacts between the Catalan separatists and an emissary of Vladimir Putin the day before the start of the 2017 separatist coup. On May 9, 2022, Carles Puigdemont, the main leader of that coup, admitted the existence of that separatist meeting with Putin's emissary.

In February, the European Parliament called for an investigation into this interference.

So, of course we can talk about a Russian plot to support Catalan separatism, because such a plot existed. In fact, on 8 February 2024, the European Parliament passed a resolution calling for an investigation into this plot. In response to this request, and in a sign that he is more concerned about his personal interests than national security, Sánchez decided to amnesty the coup plotters, knowing that this would prevent further judicial investigation into this plot.

Spanish socialism does Putin and his propagandists a great favor

Bolaños' infamous statement in Congress seems taken from George Orwell's novel "1984." Not only does he intend to tell us that the crimes convicted in relation to that coup will go unpunished by that amnesty, but that they never even existed. It is like saying that the government has the power to erase the existence of past events and demand that we forget them, a claim typical of a totalitarian regime. A claim with which, in addition, Sánchez's government does a great favor to Putin and his propagandists, who have been affirming the same lie that Bolaños pronounced on Thursday in Congress.

In case anyone hasn't thought about it yet, it's worth asking: Who in their right mind can believe anything said by a government that lies like this? With what authority is this government going to make any kind of commitment, both inside and outside our borders, when it is capable of unashamedly stating that a real event did not exist simply because the government is not interested in investigating it? Spain is experiencing a purely Kafkaesque situation because of a government that lacks all moral scruples. Hopefully we will soon see the day when this government will have to answer for its crimes before the courts.

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Photo: Efe.