Letter to the Editor of The New York Times
«Spanish old traditional hymns and symbols»
Barcelona, October 15 of 2017
Dear Sir,
On his October 14th article, NYT’s regular contributor Mr. Martín Caparrós has misled us readers with false comments.
His assertion «For a long time the hymns and symbols of Franco’s Spain had not been so present in the streets. For a long time the threat of fascism had not been so clear..» is simply outrageous, perverting European History by manipulating the truth and insulting our intelligence.
In fact the Flag and the National Anthem of Spain (our Royal March) presented by a million people claiming respect for Law and freedom on the streets of Barcelona the other day, are ancient traditional symbols belonging since centuries to all Spaniards!
Our 1978 Spanish Constitution recovered the old heraldic symbols of the Spanish crest Franco partly modified and imposed during his 36 years Regime (1939-75). A Constitution the vast majority of Catalans voted democratically and freely along with the rest of Spaniards.
The seditious Catalan regional government distorts law, creating a ridiculous confusion manipulating the truth by using Spanish taxpayers money to influence international media, leading to a falsified picture about what is going on in Catalonia and the rest of Spain.
Some Spanish symbols shown in Barcelona coincide with those Juan Ponce de León brought when discovering Florida in 1513 for the Kingdom of Spain.
Since then, the Flag of Spain flew in today’s United States fields for more than three centuries, honoring our common History.
Álvaro de Marichalar y Sáenz de Tejada
Barcelona
Kingdom of Spain
