A-Infos (en) Spaine, Statement by Embat for the September 11th National Day: Let's Change the Playing Field (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

This National Day is preceded by a series of events that have struck a 
heavy blow to society's conscience, forcing people to take sides. On one 
hand, Ceuta; on the other, Manresa. The media and political handling of 
these two events has been exploited by far-right groups-both Catalan and 
Spanish-to reach the general public. We will not delve into the details 
of these events, as everyone is already familiar with them. What should 
concern us is the capacity-and the ease-with which the far right is 
managing to make its narrative mainstream, dominate the political agenda 
across society, and become a subject of public debate with increasing 
frequency.

However, we do not believe this situation arises naturally. The shift 
toward the far right or the "hard right" is by no means innocent. As 
demonstrated by the arrest of Fernando Cerimedo in Bolivia and the 
shutdown of his "bot farms," the rise of far-right rhetoric is the 
result of political decisions made by those holding political and 
technological power. In their arrogance, they believe themselves 
capable-and often are-of manipulating the opinions of hundreds of 
millions of people at will, using fake news, hoaxes, bots, manipulated 
information, and echo chambers. People imagine themselves to be free and 
well-informed, yet they end up repeating exactly what the "billionaires" 
dictate. The cultural battle of the 21st century is being fought on 
social media, shaping the way people think.

Meanwhile, ordinary people-the working class-are suffering through a 
prolonged material and existential crisis. While, on the one hand, the 
Spanish government boasts of the Spanish State's growing global 
importance and its GDP, on the other, ordinary people struggle to make 
ends meet. Whether due to unaffordable housing-a result of allowing 
vulture funds to act unchecked-or the rising costs of fuel, raw 
materials, and food-driven by imperialist wars-people find their very 
survival jeopardized; the relentless expansion of tourism only adds to 
these pressures.

These material issues, fueled by political factors, allow an 
exclusionary, hateful narrative to take hold against those facing the 
greatest hardship-often newcomers or foreigners. Those at the bottom 
fight amongst themselves, while those at the top watch calmly. Social 
issues are sidelined and overshadowed by questions of ethnicity or 
national identity.

We clearly perceive a geopolitical dimension to this reactionary surge. 
Fear of uncontrolled, uprooted immigration is used to discipline 
society, to erect barriers and draw lines between neighborhoods, to 
fracture communities, and to atomize any unified class-based response. 
This is happening right now across the West, and Catalonia is no exception.

However, this is no time to remain in a state of shock. We must not 
stand still. On the contrary, we must mobilize. We must mobilize against 
cowardly, criminal fascism; against predatory capitalism; against 
genocidal Zionism; against the devastation of the planet; and against 
the labor exploitation and anti-worker laws already being implemented in 
other European states. The challenges are immense. The mobilization must 
be equally immense. Mobilization breaks through fear, creates new spaces 
for debate, shapes new rules, circulates different narratives, and 
fosters new bonds of solidarity and alliances. Right now, it is 
essential to break free-through struggle and determination-from the 
summer media stagnation that pushes racism even further.

Let's change the playing field.

Let's build people power.

September 2026

Embat, Libertarian Organization of Catalonia

https://embat.info/11-setembre-canviem-el-tauler/
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Subscribe/Unsubscribe https://ainfos.ca/mailman/listinfo/a-infos-en
Archive: http://ainfos.ca/en