The Spanish Supreme Court distorts its doctrine on flags and privileges an ideology

One of the bases of the rule of law is that laws must be equal for everyone, regardless of their condition.

The PSOE refuses to depoliticize Justice: the pact signed with the PP was just smoke
The false constitutional court of Spain and the absurdities it could approve

In 2020, it banned 'unofficial flags' on public buildings

If we are not equal before the law, if privileges are established, then the rule of law is degraded and its place is taken by arbitrariness and abuse of power. I want to remember this because on July 1, 2020, the Supreme Court issued a ruling that it announced with this headline:

“The Supreme Court rules that unofficial flags cannot be used outside public buildings”

The text of the ruling stated the following: "the use, even occasionally, of unofficial flags outside public buildings and spaces, is not compatible with the current constitutional and legal framework, and in particular with the duty of objectivity and neutrality of Public Administrations, even when they do not replace, but rather coincide with, the flag of Spain and other legally or statutorily established flags."

I have underlined the terms of that ruling because they were very clear. The note issued at the time by the Supreme Court spoke about "unofficial flags", which are all those that have not been regulated by law or by regional or municipal regulations. The official flags are the national flag, the regional flags, the provincial and municipal flags and the flag of the European Union, as well as the flags of other countries that are used on the occasion of an official visit or as a sign of solidarity, as has been the case with the Ukrainian flag after the Russian invasion.

The court is lying and now says that in 2020 it banned 'partisan' flags

This Monday, the Fourth Section of the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the Supreme Court issued a new ruling in which it distorts its doctrine to privilege a clearly ideological flag, the so-called LGTB flag or rainbow flag. The note published to announce this ruling is titled as follows:

“The Supreme Court supports placing the LGBT flag on public buildings on Gay Pride Day because it is not a partisan symbol”

The note states: "There is no contradiction between what is now being decided and what was previously decided on the raising of an autonomous flag other than the statutory one and, in general, against the display of partisan symbols or messages in public buildings."

In 2020, the court banned 'unofficial flags', not just 'partisan' ones

It is outrageous to see the highest court in Spain manipulating in this way. As can be seen in the text of the previous ruling, published by that court, the previous ruling of the Supreme Court did not speak of "symbols or messages of a partisan nature", but of "unofficial flags", which is very different.

The concept of "unofficial flags" includes partisan symbols and also other symbols that, as I have pointed out, do not have official recognition because they do not represent the Nation, an autonomous community, a province, a municipality or the European Union. To say now that that ruling only prohibited "partisan" symbols is to lie, and the fact that the institution that is lying is the highest judicial authority in Spain is a reason to lose faith in Justice.

What the dissenting vote of one of the judges says

What I have just stated is not just the opinion of a blogger. One of the five judges of that chamber, José Luis Requero, has issued a dissenting opinion stating that "the placement by a Public Administration of flags in buildings owned by it and which are symbols of the LGTBI movement, violates its obligation of neutrality and objectivity provided for in article 103.1 of the Constitution."

The ruling passed yesterday by the aforementioned court may give rise to paradoxes. For example, now any town council could hoist an anarchist flag claiming that it is not partisan, since there are no political parties that have this flag as their symbol. The same can be said of other symbols whose display in public buildings violates this principle of neutrality, for the mere fact that they are not the logo of a particular party, such as, for example, the republican tricolour flag or the Catalan separatist "estelada".

The rotten fruits of the politicization of Justice in Spain

In the end, the politicization of Justice in Spain ends up generating these rotten fruits, sentences that distort what was said in previous sentences, and the lamentable spectacle of a high court openly lying about what it said four years ago, in order to give in to the demands of the government. If we have to trust that a court like this will protect us from the abuses of that same government, we are in for a rough ride. The sentence handed down yesterday is another nail in the coffin of Spanish democracy, which is being buried by the same institutions that have the legal and moral duty to defend it.

---

Photo: Luis García.