CUP don't regret sending an Aliança Catalana activist to the hospital

Five months after the attack on a supporter of Aliança Catalana in Barcelona, Arran activists (the youth wing of CUP) still haven't shown any remorse. The attack took place in January, when a group of cupaires activists attacked an AC information booth in the Les Corts neighborhood.

During the altercation, an AC supporter was pushed and fell backwards, suffering serious injuries and requiring hospital care. Despite the severity of the attack, the assailants publicly boast about their actions and claim them as part of an antifascist struggle.

Last Monday, ten of the thirteen activists charged with the attack testified at the City of Justice in Barcelona. They were accompanied by a group of supporters who displayed a banner with the message: "Let's bring down Aliança Catalana, let's bring down the far right." Arran refused any self-criticism and denounced what they called "ideological persecution."

The defendants' lawyer claimed that the injuries were minor and that, in any case, it would be considered a minor offense. The accused face charges of property damage, violent robbery, minor injuries, and aggravated coercion due to hate crime:

Media whitewashing

Meanwhile, Aliança Catalana has strongly condemned the attack and claims that CUP and its affiliated groups whitewash violence. They criticize pro-separatism media for presenting the events as mere "incidents" or "clashes," and regret that the hospitalization of an activist is downplayed.

This episode highlights a situation that has become very common in Catalonia: the harassment of other political groups by the left in the name of antifascism. The case of Aliança Catalana is the most serious because someone had to be hospitalized. However, CUP's harassment and intimidation of other groups has been constant and varied.

In addition to assaults and insults against activists and information booths, CUP's youth wing has carried out all kinds of symbolic violence. From organizing "shoot the fascist" games with politicians' images to throwing Molotov cocktails at Mossos d'Esquadra dolls and vandalizing political party headquarters. Examples of tolerance and whitewashing of these aggressive attitudes have been a constant in processist Catalonia.