Spain is the EU s Biggest Threat, Not Russia | Opinion Raphael Tsavkko Garcia
, journalist On 3/1/21 at 3:00 PM EST
Spain s relationship with democracy is complicated.
While Spain arrested rapper Pablo Hasél this month for exercising his right to freedom of expression, Russia humiliated the European Union, which Spain is a member of, by highlighting the country s repeated detention of Catalan political prisoners.
Catalonia, an autonomous region in northeast Spain, has been shaken by violent crackdowns of protesters following an October 2017 independence referendum. At least 800 people, many elderly, were beaten by Spanish police officers as they peacefully tried to vote. Images circulated online, which led to outrage as well as rebukes by several human rights organizations despite silence from European institutions.
The Johnson & Johnson campus in Irvine, Calif.Credit.Mark Ralston/Agence France-Presse Getty Images
One day after federal regulators authorized Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use, senior Biden administration officials warned Sunday that the supply of the new vaccine would be highly uneven for the next month.
In an effort to lower expectations that the authorization of a third Covid vaccine will mean a steady new stream of doses, the officials said that the company will deliver 3.9 million shots this week but none the week after. The officials were speaking in an organized briefing with reporters but refused to be quoted by name.
Supporters of jailed Spanish rapper Pablo Hasel clashed with police and damaged property in fresh unrest. Around 10 people were arrested, including two involved in torching a police van.