Some of the participants in the Ultra demonstrations of these days, many of them in front of the PSOE headquarters on Ferraz Street in Madrid, showed a certain state of mind when saying certain slogans or raising certain flags. In some of her sentences one can also sense the manipulative ability of those who lead her.
Let’s look at a small dictionary of this extensive catalog.
Double eagle. Many participants carried Spanish flags with the double-headed eagle. In a video, two right-wing extremist people – asked about it by the person recording them – respond to this symbol. They say that it comes from the Catholic Monarchs and that it is the eagle of Saint John (not knowing that the one used in the Franco regime has only one head), but the bearer of the banner defends that it is the Adler is Adler of the Habsburgs, although it looks like someone screwed him up. In reality, the double-headed eagle has crossed European and some American heraldry for centuries. And in fact it was the emblem of the House of Habsburg or the House of Austria, exactly the option that the Catalans (although not all) defended for the Spanish throne in the War of Succession (18th century) against the House of Bourbon (France). . ), who ultimately kept it. In other words, it was a symbol of the side with which independents now identify, in a sensational historical pirouette. This symbol was also placed on the current flag of Russia and many other banners. This eagle already flies above all ideologies.
Dictator, dictatorship. Those gathered shouted: “Sánchez dictator.” This idea was also expressed by Isabel Díaz Ayuso, President of Madrid, although one of the requirements to be a dictator is not to be called a dictator. The academic definition of “dictatorship” describes a political regime that concentrates all power in one person or organization through force or violence and suppresses human rights and individual freedoms. Those who are pulling the strings in these demonstrations know this fully, but with such a word they are promoting a subliminal, manipulative message: “This is a dictatorship: the dictatorship of Sánchez.” If you, dear people, the dictatorship If you don’t care about Sánchez, you won’t care about ours either.
The demonstration in front of the PSPV-PSOE headquarters in Valencia, last Thursday November 9th. Biel Aliño (EFE)
Coup. It is striking that those who accuse the government of a coup are precisely those who wear the symbols of Francisco Franco, who came to power thanks to a coup. This expression was also used by Santiago Abascal, president of Vox. The meaning of “coup” implies a violent action by military or rebel forces with the aim of removing from power the authority it currently holds. The same trick that is devised with “Dictator” comes into play here: “If we manage to make them believe that this is a coup by Sánchez and they don’t care about it, then they won’t care about our coup either.” ”
Vox supporters hold up a sign accusing Pedro Sánchez of being the leader of a coup during a demonstration on Sunday in front of the PSOE headquarters in Zaragoza. JAVIER BELVER (EFE)
milkmaid “These milkmaids, to the border!” Esperanza Aguirre said in a Cuatro broadcast that she had just learned that police cars were called “milk trucks.” The former president of Madrid should show few signs of risk on her CV. The name comes from the 1970s, when the Franco police used white vans similar to those used to distribute milk at the time. And since “leche” also means “to hit” (“I hit the street lamp with milk”), everything fit together. In both cases milk was distributed. The funny thing is that the Ultras of today have adopted the intelligent sarcasm of those who were persecuted by Ultras back then.
Mason. Those gathered shouted: “Sánchez, mason, defend your nation!” The Franco regime targeted Freemasonry, it is not clear why. “Mason” comes from the French maçon, “mason” (someone who works with the dough), which at first doesn’t seem very suspicious. Freemasons meet in lodges, a word of Italian origin related to “lonja,” a place like any other. Freemasonry has its origins in the medieval guilds of construction workers, hence the connection to masons. And it emerged in England in the 18th century, already under the guise of the Enlightenment. Its members held secret meetings with ostentatious rituals (but without animal sacrifice or anything like that) and devoted themselves to debating philosophy in warm brotherhood. According to data from 2018, there are about 3,000 Freemasons in Spain. To join a lodge, one needs the support of other members, enjoys good reputation and “appropriate moral conditions,” passes two votes, and commits to respecting internal hierarchies and customs. Furthermore, you can leave whenever you want without any further formalities. At first glance it doesn’t seem to be a big risk for the state. A few weeks ago I went to a restaurant in Burgos for dinner and the door to an adjoining room clearly stated that it was reserved for a lodge. There doesn’t seem to be anything very secret about it either. Of course, the Freemasons must maintain silence about what is said in their meetings, but this also happens in the Council of Ministers. It may be that, for practical reasons, the lodges function as influence groups, intended for what has always been called “setting an agenda” or “making contacts” or “holding a hand”; what is called networking today. Therefore, the traditional “Fix this for me who has a hand in Madrid” could be said in this case: “Fix this for me who is a Freemason.” As in any human organization, some of its members are into excesses or crimes decayed, as shown by the history of the Italian P2 lodge, which was dissolved more than 40 years ago after funding neo-fascist groups. Perhaps the demonstrators these days cannot even imagine that there were Freemasons who would have supported them, and not Sánchez.
die standing “I would rather die standing than live on my knees.” A photo shows the banner put up by a protester on Ferraz Street. The extreme right protests with slogans from the left. This one in particular has been attributed to the Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata, the Cuban-Argentine guerrilla Ernesto Ché Guevara, and the Spanish communist and republican leader Dolores Ibárruri, Pasionaria (because they certainly all used it, even if they were not its originators). . Stalin, the Soviet dictator, also loved the phrase, said Boris Cimorra on Radio Moscow (Sekotia, 2022). I wonder if the protester knows who they all were.
A demonstrator on Ferraz Street holds a sign that reads, “I would rather die standing than live on my knees,” an image that is being shared online.
Fuck The ultra assemblies shout: “Fuck red if you don’t jump” and “Let’s fucking defend Spain.” In the first case, the noun “puto” fulfills an adjectival and pejorative function, as it does, for example, with the noun “cochino” in the phrase “this dirty appearance” would be the case. And in the second case, it expands the term it accompanies as a grammatical amplifier and gives it more value, as happened when Jennifer Hermoso said on August 20: “We are champions of the damn world.” It is the same effect of amplifiers , which appear in expressions such as “very quiet”, “it is very beautiful” or “I found it super interesting” (these are amplifiers: “the sea”, “good” and “-super”)), all without one Hint of obscenity, but less expressive than “puto”. Here “putodefender” is synonymous with “superdefender”. Therefore, the Ultras will do a great job of defending Spain from the Spaniards themselves. At the moment they haven’t talked about defending Spain against the damn Spaniards.
Red. “Red is the one who doesn’t jump,” they shouted. The political meaning of this adjective (originally synonymous with “radical, revolutionary”) entered the dictionary in 1925; and in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) a distinction was made between “Reds” and “Blues”. The Falangists wore blue shirts that some of Franco’s ministers would later boast about; and in the early days, the general himself. However, the ideological identification of this second color has not entered the lexicon of the academies. “A red” is a leftist, but a rightist is not a “blue.” Currently, both the PSOE and PCE use red as their signature color; and the blue, the People’s Party. And as of 2014, the fifth meaning of “Red” defines it as “left-wing, particularly communist,” and the sixth meaning says: “In the Spanish Civil War, Republicans.” Its use has declined in recent decades, as seen in Google’s Ngram tool can be seen if you search for “the reds” as a noun. But with so many people voting but not voting, these ultras will see red everywhere.
VOX’s far-right Mariano Veganzones is Minister of Industry, Trade and Employment in Castile and León. He has a salary of €87,532 per year. He said: “It’s not a lack of workers, but a lack of desire to work.” Today he jumps to the cry: “Fuck red if you don’t jump.”pic.twitter.com/pLMrbgDOUD
— Fonsi Loaiza (@FonsiLoaiza) November 12, 2023
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