Juan Carlos I, who was King of Spain from 1975 to 2014, delivers speeches reconciliation, Initially published in France and now reaching Spain, his memoirs are on the state of Catalan politics, from the dismantling of Francoist institutions to current affairs and condemnation of the drift to independence in recent years. He admits that “some people today feel the need to restore historical memory, but it is not used for political and revenge purposes, that is.” Siniala said that before approving the constitution, his surroundings feared “the nationalist desires of the Basque Country, very loud and radical, with their armed weapons”, but he could not stop repeating: “Governing Catalonia is more difficult than managing the Basque Country.”
“It’s time to find out why, unfortunately. Hubera preferred to get me wrong. We saw it get worse in October 2017, with an illegal referendum and the declaration of their independence. The Catalans committed a certain coup and against the constitution. The Catalan independents have forgotten that they voted massively for a constitution that they reject today,” he says.
He claims his work and recalls that in 1977, he made the decision, “in a powerful symbolic act, to respond to the demands of Catalan identity” and to demand that Josep Tradias, exiled in France since the beginning of the war, return to Catalonia, so that he could be placed at the head of the “restored government.” “To everyone’s surprise, I call on Zarzuela to publicly recognize the legitimacy of Corona and the unity of the country,” he wrote.
He met with Adolfo Suarez to reach an agreement on the status of Catalonia, but it “was not immediate.” “I insisted that they find a way to compromise,” he writes. The presence of the Tarradillas in Catalonia “was enough to recognize their political struggle for the ‘reconciliation of the General Government’ that had been suppressed in 1938. It brings together the heroes of the past to restore their place in New Spain. It is a powerful gesture of reconciliation among many.”
In the chapter devoted to “The Ordeal of ETA Terrorism,” he talks about how he dealt with demands for independence. He explains that although “the fights were noisy and violent,” he always warned the government: “The Catalan independents are less noisy, but more determined.”
He spoke of the character of Jordi Pujol, leader of the CiU party, who has led the State General “for 23 years, a unique political age in a democracy.” From the beginning, its goal was the “national reconstruction of Catalonia.” Criticisms that promoted “Catalan culture, based on the glorification of history” and the “catalization” of administrative life. Over the years, “thousands of employees spent time in the Spanish public service in Catalonia. We ended up in an absurd situation where exchanges with the rest of Spain were considered foreign trade,” he deplored. Al-Fakhri wrote: “Pujol came to Madrid to negotiate powers. He met first with the head of government, then he met with me. He had received a previous report. He knew that limits had to be drawn up.”
“To summarize the sensitive issue that led to the institutional crisis of 2017,” he recalls that in 1983, the Organic Law (known as LOAPA) equalized the powers of all autonomous communities, and “there was initially a distinction in the constitution between historical communities and others. Some people called it the ‘café for all’.”
“In 2006, a new law for Catalonia was approved, but it was declared unconstitutional in 2010. I support the firm speech of Felipe, who deserves a great king.”
“On a personal level, I felt betrayed. Catalonia, a dynamic and welcoming place, had become a space of intolerance where, as a nationalism, it was a façade. If I had said that a few years ago, I would not have believed it. How did we arrive at this hostility, after so much effort to live in it? Harmony? It was inconceivable to my eyes, inconceivable. The priests of the Constitution chose a path that respected our particularities. My struggle was for a united, united unity. A reconciled Spain.”
He claims that Spain “cannot give in to discrimination based on identity or political blackmail.” “We can also break the dialogue. National reconciliation obliges us. I worry that every decision has precedents that are difficult to reverse. If Spain is pluralistic, Catalonia is also pluralistic. We will only be able to move forward by respecting this wealth.”
You are sure that the situation in the independent region has worried you a lot recently in your life in Abu Dhabi. “I follow him from a distance, I read the press, and sometimes I feel frustrated and anxious. However, in this land that I know so well, where I have so many good friends, I felt happy and proud”, the story of 1992, the year in which the Olympic Games were celebrated in Barcelona, an adventure that, I say, was promoted with Juan Antonio Samaranch. This is what I say: “majestad, nombreme embajador in Moscow and I promise that today in Spain there will be one JJOO”. The city accommodates the next games and Samaranch proposes that the event be approved. “His enthusiasm was contagious,” Ell said.
Alaba’s Pascual Maragall, of the PSC, served as mayor of Barcelona, who did “an exceptional job for his city, which completely changed between 1987 and 1992.” At the centre, attacks and “Catalan independence activists were unable to tarnish the image of Catalonia. Spain’s history has accelerated.” “The Barcelona Games will remain in my memory forever. I hope the current political atmosphere is conducive to a global event, but I hope the equivalent of 1992 will be repeated one day in Catalonia or Spain.”