“And now what comes this?” has been heard in many bars and workplaces. A friend living abroad asked, seeing the series of comments that were being posted on the network against arrests, whether the closure of Egunkaria might have become a reaction. Probably not. And yet, it could be compared with the above, as it is increasingly being defined to the extent that citizenship is willing to accept it – and that this operation does not fall within those limits.

Next screen

The strategy of pursuing newspapers, popular movements, parties or associations, whoever they may be, as dependents of ETA, from the outset gave rise to the response of a large part of Basque society, but many others have accepted it or, at least, acted passivity in the face of the excesses of the police judicial roller.

The dynamics of the armed conflict helped: When in each arrest of the Spanish National Audience television responded with a murder of ETA, when the hegemonic discourse showed some victims of the conflict and concealed others, many, despite seeing the injustice, refused to position themselves publicly, as to prevent them from being placed on the side of the “terrorists”.

However, in 2013, ETA has been standing for two years, waiting for the steps of the Spanish Government for its final dissolution, without a response. If we were talking about a video game, we would say that the Basque society passed a screen when ETA announced a total truce. And the next screen contains new discursive laws. The disappearance of violence has made others more visible, the meaning of many words – violence, peace… – has been questioned; and there are political actors who are not comfortable in the new situation, without finding a safe place.

New molds

In this context, the anti-repression movement is slowly but steadily renewing the forms of struggle. Traditional formulas, such as the massive demonstration in Bilbao, are still a central element, but other initiatives are beginning to emerge. For example, in the epicenter of the police operation, in Hernani, last Friday a 24-hour “opening” was organized with a participative and spontaneous socio-cultural programming evoked by the M15 or Occupy movements.

Starting to sing the new times in Euskal Herria can give a joke of bad taste by seeing that the Spanish state repeats rancid formulas. But not even seeing that many citizens feel a renewed legitimacy to protest this type of police action would be to be with their eyes turned upside down. It will be necessary to see if more profound processes of empowerment will emerge from the punctual responses.