Spanish Government Responds To Heisenberg, Says ‘Kidnap’ Not Right Word To Use For Potential Puigdemont Arrest

Update:

Good news Madrid! We don’t have to settle this semantic debate today, because  Puigdemont proposed to suspend Catalonia’s independence referendum result for “weeks.” He also said he “hasn’t been abducted by aliens.”

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Earlier:

Well, the Spanish government is mad at Heisenberg.

Earlier today, we posted a piece called “Spain Says Will ‘Immediately’ Kidnap Catalan President If He Declares Independence.”

They didn’t like that title. Specifically, a representative from the Spanish government called it “[a] misrepresentation and is false.”

Fair enough. Spain didn’t actually threaten to “kidnap” Catalan President Carles Puigdemont. Here are the actual headlines from Bloomberg:

• Spain Said to Prepare Forces Able to Seize Catalan Leader Today
• Spain’s police are ready to arrest Catalan President Carles Puigdemont immediately if he declares independence in the regional parliament, two people familiar with the government’s plans say.
• No final decision on whether to act has been taken, they say
• Spain’s National Police force has elite officers deployed in Catalonia who are prepared to join a raid if Catalan police try to shield Puigdemont, one of the people says

Ok, so just to be clear, Spain has “elite officers” in Catalonia who will arrest  Puigdemont apparently by overwhelming any Catalan police who try to keep him from being arrested.

Asked by Bloomberg to confirm this, a government press officer “declined to comment other than to say that any such decision would have to be ordered by a judge.”

Well, that’s comforting. A judge would have to order it.

So apologies to Spain on behalf of “everyone” here at Heisenberg Report. We’ve changed the title of the original post and put the word “kidnap” in scare quotes. Because you didn’t literally threaten to “kidnap” Puigdemont, only arrest him against the will of his own police force if he decides to declare independence. 

Dear Madrid: Somehow, I doubt this “clarification” will do much to sway public opinion in your favor, so next time, maybe keep your mouth shut and focus on domestic issues rather than worrying about trying to spin U.S.-based bloggers’ reporting. Because it doesn’t say much for the stability of your democracy when you are so worried about the durability of your government that you spend the critical moments ahead of an independence declaration trolling blogs.