A letter to some of my European colleagues

In recent times, I have received moving messages from many of you regarding the situation created in Spain by Catalan separatism. Some of these messages express support for the “Republic” in the face of “Francoist” repression by the government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. I thank you for these messages. I know that in the collective memory of the European left, there is still a sense of guilt and shame out of the fact that the rest of Europe left my country pretty much alone against the onslaught of fascism in 1936. I understand. But like Albert Camus used to say, “the war in Spain has taught us that history does not choose between just and unjust causes, and that it submits to sheer force when not to mere chance.”

It may be that, from a moral viewpoint, such tepidness by Europe was wrong; but it is not possible to redress history because, as Aristotle used to say, not even the gods can make what has already happened not happen (although it is true that angrier gods later came along who granted themselves the power to change the past). I would simply like to remind you that your support comes 80 years late if what you’re trying to do is defeat Franco; or else 40 years late if what you’d like to do is denounce his dictatorship.

You may quite possibly not have noticed, but since 1978 Spain has been a decentralized constitutional monarchy that grants citizens the same civil rights as any other parliamentary democracy in the EU. Granted, it has many defects. But the restoration of Franco’s dictatorship is not one of them, much as realizing this cruel fact may sadden some of you.

I would simply like to remind you that your support comes 80 years late if what you’re trying to do is defeat Franco

I still remember how, not so long ago, you used to send me messages supporting “the liberation of the Basque people,” in whose name the terrorist organization ETA was routinely murdering innocent citizens. ETA was the most serious threat to the fledgling Spanish democracy, but you still hadn’t learned that Spain had already ceased being a dictatorship, or that the Basque Country is one of the regions with the greatest powers of self-government of any advanced democracy in the world.

I understand that the heroic, romantic image of a cheerful, feisty Second Spanish Republic (and also somewhat backward and rural, but that makes it all the more authentic) up in arms against fascism has become engraved in your retinas, like a fetish that protects you against the left’s subsequent historical defeats and assures you a comfortable moral superiority at times when electoral victories are out of reach.

I even understand how, just like an athletic Greek economist we all know who took his country to lofty levels of welfare, you find it much easier to fight Francoism 40 years after its demise, because I know from personal experience that fighting it while Franco was still alive was far from a pleasant experience. And I understand your attitude because it’s not just you, who after all live abroad and could allege a lack of direct information about the matter. Quite a few of my fellow countrymen and women are acting just like you.

The fact of the matter is, you’re not the only ones who have resuscitated Francoism in order to extract political and emotional satisfaction from it. So have populists right here in Spain (coinciding with similar trends in other parts of Europe), the same populists who previously and successfully cast their nets to catch disgruntled voters in waters muddied by the economic crisis. They were soon joined by the Catalan nationalists (it will come as no surprise to you that there are deep ties between nationalism and populism), who for many years – but only within the discreet boundaries of their own territorial dominions – had maintained that very same anachronistic rhetoric about the “struggle against Francoist Spain.” And that is because anti-Francoism (even if it is more assumed than real) is the only progressive element that such an unprogressive ideology as theirs can boast about.

The fact of the matter is, you’re not the only ones who have resuscitated Francoism in order to extract political and emotional satisfaction from it

A conflict broke out in Spain then, which we might view as “narrative” in nature because it is being waged more in the realm of words and images than in the realm of things. This conflict is pitting two incompatible views against each other: one is a minority view, but it is very loud and supported by the heroic-romantic fetish about the 1936 Spanish Civil War that many of you find so pleasing; according to this story, everything that’s happened in Spain since 1978 has been nothing but a covert continuation of fascism. And then there is the majority view, which is a very quiet one based on prosaic facts and the dry formality of the law; according to this narrative, Franco’s dictatorship died with him in 1975, paving the way for a democratic welfare state governed by the rule of law, just like all the other EU countries.

Communication between these two narratives is entirely impossible, because it is useless to accuse those who deny reality of being in contradiction with reality: it is precisely this reality – the historical, political, social and economic reality of the Spanish state – that they are challenging. This is why the confrontation, and not just in Catalonia either, has created a state of malaise that is cleaving families, schools, businesses, universities and friendships.

Even if those who trumpet the national-populist narrative are insensitive to its inconsistencies, the falsehood of their claims is revealed by an even greater contradiction. Because if they were right about rampant fascism in Spain, then why do they run in elections, cling to their public posts and salaries, resort to the courts and file appeals with the EU (which they claim to be contaminated by triumphant Francoism) instead of going underground, taking up arms against the tyranny and recruiting international brigades among yourselves to support the true republic, which I am sure you would do with overwhelming enthusiasm?

The majority view is that Franco’s dictatorship died with him in 1975, paving the way for a democratic welfare state

Some of you tell me that we cannot capitulate before the right. I also agree with that, and would love nothing more than to return to traditional left-right political fighting. But you know very well that this kind of sparring is only possible among actors who accept the common framework of the rule of law. Unfortunately, today we are faced on all sides by movements that question that very framework, movements that fight against pluralism and prosperity, that hold income redistribution in contempt, and which invoke a higher justice than mere democratic laws.

So let me make a suggestion to you: if you truly want to fight authoritarian slant, liquid totalitarianism and fanatical personality cults, then let’s all repeat together that nationalism and populism, as both have admitted, are neither left-wing or right-wing, but in fact want to terminate democratic pluralism and the difference between left and right, and replace it with “a single nation” (a nation which, I assure you, is not mine). If you do that, I will be eternally grateful for your help.

José Luis Pardo is a philosopher.

English version by Susana Urra.