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| Artur Mas, President of the Generalitat of Catalunya, has a battle to fight |
It’s unconstitutional. That is mostly what we, in Catalunya, hear
coming from the Central Government in Madrid.
To have a referendum so that Catalans can vote and see if a majority
wants to secede from Spain is unconstitutional.
And of course, to secede is also unconstitutional. Apparently, unlike the American and other
Constitutions, the Spanish one is carved in stone (although it has, actually,
been amended in the past, but never mind that; it is now carved in stone).
The Spanish Constitution was created in 1978 after Franco
died when Spain became a so-called democracy. (Just want to mention that the Catalan Constitution was created in 1283, said here to be the oldest constitution, older even than England's Magna Carta.)
Because it is unconstitutional there is no way to
have a referendum to let people vote. Voting
would be illegal. Catalunya separating
from Spain is illegal. It says so in the
Constitution. It’s carved in stone and
Catalans can only hit their heads against that stone wall. There is no other recourse, according to the
Central Government in Madrid. They’ve
said the same for years, but now they are saying it daily and frankly, it’s
making me dizzy. I have no tolerance for
going round and round – something about my ears. It was a handicap when I used to dance.
But it seems that a large segment of the
population of Catalunya, possibly a majority, want Independence and believe
they should have the right to vote on it.
Now I ask you: What would you
think if, say, your country’s Constitution said that women were not allowed to
vote. Would you think that was
appropriate in a democracy? Would you
think that maybe your Constitution needed to be revised? If women started going to the polls would you
send in the army?
How can a democracy say that a referendum is
unconstitutional? Voting is the key that
makes a democracy a democracy, isn’t it?
Today Spain’s Vice President spoke to the press,
as she does most days, and during the two or three minutes devoted to speaking
of Catalunya, she uttered the word Constitution (and unconstitutional) eight or
ten times. A child could have understood
her point. She and others who are
against it can utter those words as much as they like, the truth is that in a
democracy a referendum SHOULD be legal, and if it isn’t, the laws should change
so that it is. But in spite of that
stone wall, I believe Catalunya will find a way to let its citizens vote and I
think that vote will lead to secession. We
shall see.
Catalunya gaining its Independence, if that’s what Catalans want, is probably not impossible, whatever hurdles may be put in its way. Walls can be scaled or one can take the long way around and still end up on the other side. What is impossible is getting my criminal record (or certification that there isn’t one) from the U.S. I need this to deal with my legal status here. I sent in fingerprints (the only evidence they will accept) to the FBI last year and got a form back saying there were not discernible. Since then I’ve been busy, but today I went again to the Mossos d'Esquadra (the Catalan National Police), the office here in Figueres, to see if they could do the prints better so that they would be discernible.
The Mosso (police agent) started inking and
printing and couldn’t believe it when he saw the results. My fingers have none of those circular
lines. He said that in all the eight
years that he has been doing this work, he has never seen fingers as bad as
mine at least never all ten fingers.
Thanks a lot. This was the
problem the last time. The Mosso who did
those a year ago said I could be a thief because no one would be able to identify
my fingerprints. I wish someone had told
me this years ago! I might have had a
more affluent life. Now, it may be
amusing to the Mossos, but for me it is a great nuisance, a problem with no
solution. Without the criminal report I
cannot complete the required process here.
This is not amusing.
Mossos d'Esquadra don’t usually provide fingerprinting
services to the public. But since the
office in Barcelona had done the original prints that the FBI rejected (upon
receipt of a letter from the US Consulate requesting the service; the form
letter cost 40 euros, the Mossos spent 20 minutes and did the fingerprints for
free), the agents here were willing to deal with me.
Understanding my dilemma of being between a rock
and a hard place with a problem that seems to have no solution, the two agents
who were helping me this morning have called their headquarters in Barcelona to
see if the chief will write or authorize a letter on my behalf explaining that
my fingers will only produce prints that are not readable. I’m not sure yet what I will do with that
letter, but as far as I can figure, it’s the only tool I will have to work
with. Maybe someone at Immigration will understand
the problem, give me the benefit of the doubt, and let me more forward. Immigration is a department of the Spanish government. Maybe they will tell me that my problem is unconstitutional.
