ON THE morning of October 30th five police vans staked out the Palace of the Generalitat, the part-medieval seat of the government of Catalonia on the Plaça Sant Jaume in Barcelona’s gothic quarter. But there was no sign of Carles Puigdemont, Catalonia’s now ex-president, nor of any demonstrators protesting against his dismissal by the Spanish government. Instead, there were foreign journalists waiting for the clash that didn’t happen.
Three days earlier, Plaça Sant Jaume overflowed with a euphoric crowd celebrating a declaration of independence by the Catalan parliament. “Freedom”, they chanted. “It’s a dream, it’s marvellous,” said David Regalos, an estate agent who had brought his teenage daughter for what he saw as a historic occasion. “It may hurt the business I work in,” he admitted, “but I’m thinking of the future of my children.”
But as dusk fell with an autumnal chill, the dream was revealed to be delirium. Even as the crowd caroused, in...Continue reading
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