Impunity as a state policy

Democratic memory in Spain is like a game: selectively remembering what suits us and conveniently forgetting the rest. For years, we've heard that the Transition was a period of harmony, peace, and collective embraces, in which King Juan Carlos brought us freedoms. A kind of fairy tale where we all suddenly decided to forget our differences and walk together toward democracy, as if nothing had happened.

But alas, the story is cut short when Blanca Serra appears, an 82-year-old woman who seems not to have forgotten what many would prefer to keep silent. This activist, well-known in left-wing pro-independence circles, has been distinguished throughout her life for her commitment to social justice, feminism, and the national liberation of the Catalan Countries. In an interview with another publication, Serra vividly recalled the torture she suffered at the Via Laietana police station in Barcelona in 1977, during the Transition, when democracy was already being discussed: beatings that broke several bones and a mock execution for that story about a plastic bag. In this regard, let us remember that historians tell us of thousands of people tortured and almost 600 deaths between 1975 and 1982. Years that are still presented as peaceful and exemplary. Their experience, shared by many other anti-Franco activists, demonstrates that repression did not end with the dictatorship, but continued during the Transition.

A few months ago, the Public Prosecutor's Office decided to open, for the first time, a criminal investigation into the torture committed against Blanca Serra. Better late than never, they say. Almost fifty years have passed, but this decision sets an important precedent, since Serra's complaint is the first to move forward with the aim of investigating Francoist crimes outside the direct context of the Civil War, from a criminal perspective.

However, while the Public Prosecutor's Office is taking tentative steps forward, the State continues to turn a blind eye to the abuses committed by the security forces. According to Amnesty International, in the last fifteen years, more than 200 police officers convicted of torture have been pardoned by successive Spanish governments, both those of the People's Party (PP) and the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). Far from being isolated incidents, these pardons reflect a long-standing practice that guarantees impunity for those responsible and sends a disturbing message: government crimes go unpunished. Although on several occasions a small segment of the judiciary has objected, warning that these pardons jeopardize the separation of powers, nothing has changed. All of this demonstrates a serious breach of Spain's human rights commitments, hardly compatible with the image of a state that claims to be fully democratic.

Given this situation, the political debate on Democratic Memory and reparations has become an exercise in partisan hypocrisy. Let me explain. Memory is used as a symbolic weapon in a confrontation that fuels headlines and tension and appeals to the media, but remains far removed from the reality of the victims. In this way, the People's Party (PP) and Vox accuse the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) of wanting to reopen old wounds, while the left defends itself by claiming it only seeks justice. Meanwhile, the victims remain forgotten and the perpetrators go unpunished. It should be remembered that the struggle for democracy did not end with the Second Republic or the Civil War, but continued throughout the dictatorship, the Transition, and still continues today.

This impunity has not only allowed convicted police officers to return to public life without consequences, but has even led to them being decorated. Meanwhile, cases like Blanca Serra's are forgotten. Now, with the first criminal investigation into the torture at Via Laietana, perhaps the pact of silence that has protected the perpetrators for decades is beginning to crumble. But the question remains: will justice actually do anything, or will we be sold the same old fairy tale of reconciliation?

Thus, while some are busy manipulating history, others, like Blanca Serra, remind us that memory is not selective and that the truth, however uncomfortable, always comes to light. Perhaps it's time to abandon sugarcoated narratives and confront our history honestly, without fear of acknowledging the mistakes of the past. After all, only in this way can we build a truly solid and just democracy.