NationStates Jolt Archive

"La Generalitat will never stand for oppression!" Representative to Cataluña to Las Cortes, Antonio Vidaz, vehemently defended his point. He could not believe his eyes, and the thought of what had just occured made him shutter. The Partido Popular [PP] had actually listened to La Falange de la JONS, one of the most right wing institutions in the country, and had reversed ten years of increased Cataluñan autonomy, which was simply inconceivable. The autonomous community [the name for a state in Spain] had almost seen sovereignty under Zapatero, and so much hardwork had just been reversed by a simple court ruling, under the control of the Partido Popular which had reverted to a fascist institution of all things! Vidaz understood that less autonomy for Cataluña would mean a disaster to Basque autonomy, which was absolutely hated, especially with the increased terrorism brought on by ETA.

President of Spain Santiago de la Marca, standing next in the lector, next to King Juan Carlos II who had decided to make a suprise visit, shook his head. He would be damned if the Socialist got anything through, after eight years of Zapatero. He had enough of their defeatism and anti-nationalism. A Spain full of autonomous countries, indeed a Country of countries as it had been called, would not stand. He retorted, "I can care less what the Generalitat does. The government of Spain says no, so it will comply!"

A hustle of noise continued, but it subsided when the fascist representative, Jose Antonio del Rio, came to the lector, replacing de la Marca. He began immediately, "Spain is plagued by a Socialist terror. In ten years of socialist reign Spain has seen the worst years of her life, finding success only in areas that had been previously worked for under the Aznar administration long ago. Our economy has gone to shambles with their demand side economics, and the devolution of the parliamentary system has cost Spain her unification. We have left our allies in Iraq, we have left our allies in Afghanistan. We have cheated ourselves from what Spain deserves. Cataluña is part of Spain and thus under Spanish law - there is no reason for Cataluña to have other wise. In the end, to put it bluntly, they are not sovereign!"

A general outcry persisted from the side of the Partido Socialista Obrero de España (PSEO), but del Rio ignored it and went on, "Viva España! Viva la unidad!"

Such discussions had marked the debates in Las Cortes since the election of Santiago de la Marca in 2012, beginning a four year reign of the PP. He was known for his conservatist nature when it came to national politics, but for his progressive attitude when it came to technological aspects and social questions. But the socialist found no liking for him. The end result was an indefinate debate that had lasted for three years, as well as an upscale of ETA and Al Queda bombings all over Spain, although ETA was obviously behind the bulk of the attacks, as well as a general diffusion of the Spanish population between those that wished for greater unity, and those that worked for greater autonomy. As a consequence, fascism had made a new presence, although even then most that marked the onslaught of the rise of fascims were best described as capitalist, and not absolutist. The trend, however, pointed Spain towards what could only be described as a road to absolute capitalism and outright right wing foreign politics. Simply said, that would bring much heat from the inside.

In extension of the worsening political situation within Spain the government had issued orders to move an armored battalion from Valencia to Bilbao in order to show that Madrid still had control over the region. ETA had been so infuriated that it had retaliated with a car bomb that killed the commanding colonel of the battalion. Madrid had then responded in kind, arresting and 'accidently' killing thirty-six individuals belonging to the terrorist organization. The final outcome had been the pledge of all 'Euskadi political arms' to disband and ally with ETA, bringing Euskadi [Pais Vasco] at a 'full war with Spain', effectively a war of independence. By January 2015 war had become a reality, with daily terrorism throughout Spain. It had turned into hell.

The only way Madrid had tried to stop it was through a non-stop debate in Las Cortes. All the while, the bloodbath continued. It seemed like the most perfect opportunity for revolution...

Bilbao
The squad of Cougars had been ordered into the center of Bilbao for riot control, and they were given a hard time from the start. They were not outfitted for civilian duties; they were the military - but Madrid believed that they were the only things that could 'persuade' the riots to die down - gunboat diplomacy, if you will. The riots had begun days earlier in response to the government's refusal to allow for the progression of autonomy in Cataluña and El País Vasco, and Madrid had immediately responded by calling martial law in the latter, and by stationing two infantry battalions in the former. It obviously had not worked to stem the tide, and there were rumours of planned strikes and riots in Barcelona, one of the worst possible areas for unrest. With this political background, those twelve Arca I Cougars continued patrolling the streets, their big main guns pointed towards the crowd for intimidation. It failed to work and the crowd only began to get rowdier.

Capitán Alfredo Romerez took another look through the photonic surveyor peeping from the top of the glacis of the armoured car, and then dipped his head back under and took control of the intra-tank radio, "Foxtrot-Eight to Papa-One. They are not backing off. Request for orders. I repeat, request for oders, over."

A muffled and sloppy return came soon thereafter, "Papa-One to Foxtrot-Eight. You have orders to open fire. I repeat, you have orders to open fire, over."

Romerez looked up, his eyes wide. Open fire? Were they insane? He pressed the toggle button on the radio and inquired for more, "Denied. We are not outfitted with non-lethal ordnance, over."

The return was not good, "Proceed. You are to open fire with lethal ordnance. I repeat, lethal ordnance, over."

He sighed and shut his eyes. He then put back the radio and grabbed the inter-tank comm and said, "Fire at will." Almost immediately, the tank shuddered as it released a high explosive shell at ungodly velocities, hitting the ranks of rioters smack dab in the center. The subsequent explosion sent bodies sky high, and ripped into the flesh of countless of souls. In the midst of the noise of explosions, machinegun chatter slaughtered those that remained standing. It was a massacre. One man received two bullets simultanuously through the jaw, ripping the bottom of his face straight off. He remained, alive, however; his tongue hanging wildly with no support to allow it to roll up. A third bullet put him out of his misery and it shattered his eye and exited through the back of his skull. A rioting woman had her arm torn apart, and she fell to the floor crying and screaming, only to be killed by a Cougar as it rolled over her, pursuing others. For ten long minutes the destruction continued, until all fell silent. For ten minutes the rape of Bilbao pressed on, claiming the lives of hundreds of people who had never expected this.

When it was all over, Romerez opened his hatch and raised himself to take a look at what he had just done. As he emerged from the bowls of the tank, the smell of the dead finally reached his nostrils and he bent over to cover the side of the tank with his green vomit. He quickly clammered back into the tank and closed the hatch. Taking the intra-tank radio comm he violently said, "The task has been completed. You can go fuck yourself now."

No response ever returned. He took the other comm and ordered, "All tanks, rondevouz at the Picadilly Circus." The 'Picadilly Circus' indicated the outskirts of the city, where all the tanks were to rondevouz if they decided to withdraw. Romerez had done his job and so he had no reason to stay around and look at the poor infantry complete a body count. He could have never have thought that his actions on that day would begin one of the most violent coup d'etats in Spanish history, mirroring that of the 18th of July, 1936, and 22nd of February 1981. He had no clue that the man who had issued those orders was the man who would shake the foundations of modern Spain - Mariscal Antonio de la Vega.


El País

BILBAO, España - Today, Bilbao erupted in urban warfare as a crowd of six thousand rioters was engaged by a single squadron of Spanish tankers, concluding the day with a massacre. The slaughter has shaken the European Union and the rest of the world alike, and much of the blame has been put on Spanish President Santiago de la Marca, although de la Marca claims that Field Marshall Antonio de la Vega gave the orders to kill, without authorization from Madrid. Whatever was behind the massacre, the body count has been finalized at seventy-three dead. It, indeed, has been a very tragic day, and many Basques have equated today with the tragedy at Guernica during the Spanish Civil War. The disolved parliament of El País Vasco, who had officially declared war against the Government of Spain two months ago, has again publicly announced vows to destroy the de la Marca regime and promised to 'return Spain to progressive politics'. The clouds ahead do not mark positive thoughts - that is for certain.