Thread by @aleixsarri

Many people have written about Rivera as some kind of Spanish Macron. That’s plainly wrong. Many people in Catalonia (and Spain) have for long considered C’s as a right-wing nationalist/populist party.

Why? Thread below 👇⚡

2)First of all. C’s is not a “new liberal party born out of the crisis”. C’s was born in 2006 as an Spanish nationalist outfit in Catalonia with the intention of undermining the use of Catalan language in schools and public media.

elpais.com/elpais/2006/09…

3) (Background info:Catalan school system is a consensus policy to ensure social cohesion and adequate protection of the Catalan language after 40 years of Franco dictatorship where Catalan was marginalized and banned from schools and institutions. 99% of Catalans speak Spanish)

4)C’s pro-european character is opportunistic, not principled-based. In 2009, C’s tried to play the populist-euroskeptic card in the European elections. C’s shamelessly joined the Libertas coalition, a far-right euroskeptic movement.

Cc: @ALDEParty

elmundo.es/elmundo/2009/0…

5)Moreover, C’s has extensive links with the Spanish extreme right:

Here a former Fuerza Nueva militant, making a speech in 2012 just before Arrimadas takes the stage in a public event of Ciudadanos.

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6)More. At least 15 of C’s candidates in the 2015 local elections had recently been extreme-right militants.

Cc: @ALDEgroup

elcritic.cat/actualitat/qui…

7)More. Javier Nart, C’s MEP, participated in an extreme-right event in Barcelona in July 2017.

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8)More. Girauta, former C’s MEP + current MP and C’s spokesperson in Spanish Parliament stated in 2014 during the European campaign that “C’s and VOX [extreme-right party] have few differences”.

Cc: @EuropeEnMarche

publico.es/tremending/201…

9) January 2018. Arrimadas and Rivera demonstrating with extreme right leaders of VOX, holding the same banner, and calling for an increase in salaries for the Spanish police 3 months after their violent attacks during the Catalan referendum.

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10) In fact C’s is so satisfied with the violence of the Spanish police in Catalonia during the referendum that has called to officially award the agents involved for their merits. 1066 people were injured in their actions.

lavanguardia.com/politica/20171…

11)Meanwhile, only in the last months of 2017 120 Spanish ultranationalist/extreme-right agressions were accounted in Catalonia. C’s remained silent.

elmon.cat/politica/lextr…

12)What’s more. C’s has joined forces with PP and PSOE to block any investigation on the Spanish police violence against Catalan people on October 1st 2017.

politica.elpais.com/politica/2017/…

13)More recently, a former top candidate of C’s for the Spanish Senate was caught while taking away 🎗🎗🎗 (Catalan political prisoners symbol) with a neonazi activist.

elperiodico.cat/ca/politica/20…

14)On the other hand, as a sign of its underlying right-wing populist stance, Ciudadanos abstained on giving universal health care for immigrants in Catalonia in a thinly veiled racist move.

elperiodico.cat/ca/sanitat/201…

15)Ciudadanos also has had issues with condemning Francoism. In 2013, Rivera even left the Catalan Parliament in order to avoid voting the resolution condemning the regime.

elpais.com/ccaa/2013/10/1…

16)On Valle de los Caidos (Franco's and fascist mausoleum close to Madrid), C’s was against making any changes there. Lately has changed its position BUT only if Partido Popular also accepts it, de facto blocking reform.

eldiario.es/politica/Ciuda…

17) (For more info about Ciudadanos U-Turns and strange positions on Francoism, check this article).

elcritic.cat/reportatges/la…

18) Another important issue: C’s use of identity politics during elections. Arrimadas in December 2017 Catalan elections called for the people to vote remembering their Andalusian origins against Catalan independence. An etnicist electoral strategy.

ara.cat/eleccions21d/A…

19)Coincidentally, for December 2017 Catalan elections, people calling to Falange Española and asking what to vote received as a recommendation C’s (check audio). When it became public, Falange denied it.

directe.cat/noticia/697468…

20)Also, anti-independence marches have been jointly organized by C’s with PP and PSC but also with extreme-right parties like Falange and other groups. Fascist salutes were done during marches without any condemnation.

Cc: @fdp @D66

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21)Obviously, Arrimadas and C’s have shown no respect for Catalan symbols that even PP has always respected. Here a photo of Arrimadas sulking in the Catalan Parliament while everyone else was singing. Compare with her reaction with the Spanish hymn.

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22)Finally, yesterday’s speech. Many democrats from different sides have seen the similarities of Rivera’s speech with Spanish fascist Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera as well as C’s consolidation as a nationalist-populist movement. Today in @LaVanguardia

lavanguardia.com/politica/20180…

23)Similarities of Rivera speech with Spanish fascist politician from the 30s were particularly striking as Carles @boixserra, Princeton Professor, showed in his tweet.

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24)New lyrics for the Spanish hymn was also presented/promoted yesterday by Ciudadanos. Its lyrics are…well, judge by yourself.

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25)Summing up. Ciudadanos is a nationalist-populist party born to undermine Catalan language that has outgrown its purpose and now is the main supporter of repression in Spain.

These are no mainstream liberals, C's are old-school minority-bashing Spanish nationalists.