They have become the digital activists of reference in the last weeks, in the Catalan conflict. The Democratic Tsunami is an entirely new agent on the Catalan map, to the joy of the pro-independence activists and to the despair of the police and judges accustomed to arresting, prosecuting, and punishing identifiable activists. The combination of clandestinity and the most innovative and secure technologies has surprised everyone, citizens, police agents, judges... Nobody knows who they are, or whether they are 3, 30 or 300. It is undeniable the great amount of curiosity that this has aroused in regard to their calls to action, to the point of make it platform to be by many pro-independence supporters followed in a very short time, who have been able to block Barcelona airport and the border with La Jonquera, with a simple digital message. They call themselves “a campaign”. This interview has not being made face-to-face, but in writing.
Starting with the most recent, you have announced the cessation of activities until mid-December. Why? For political reasons? For technical reasons?
We never made such announcement. There is only one public action to date. Tsunami prepares its actions according to the objectives set in each moment.
A few days ago, one of the Tsunami waves reached Basque Country, in Biriatu, and even caused 17-kilometer queues. Why this call outside Catalonia?
It is not the first action carried out outside Catalonia. The very day in which the Supreme Court ruling was made public, 1,200 cars blocked the entrance to Madrid Barajas airport. The aim of this action in Basque Country was, on the one hand, to show how isolated the Spanish state is from a Europe that claims to defend the rights of its citizens, and on the other hand, to put on the table that the political problem of Catalonia is not an internal Spanish matter, it is European.
Doing so in Basque Country has a special symbolism, because of the bridges between and similarities in the will for self-determination of the Basque and Catalan peoples. A bridge that has to be strengthened.
Biriatu's call was made by the Democratic Tsunami of Catalonia. Can we talk about the Democratic Tsunami of Basque Country, or was it a specific call made from Catalonia?
Tsunami is made up of all those who carry out actions and subscribe to the non violence principles of Tsunami.
Will the Democratic Tsunami calls be extended to the rest of the Catalan Countries?
Each call is designed to achieve a specific objective at any given time.
A tsunami is, by definition, a succession of waves with different sizes. Are you going to generate many waves and of different sizes?
It has already been like that. There are many types of actions. Each one responds to a goal in certain moment. For example: to force the Spanish president to change his agenda during his visit to Catalonia. Or turn the #SpainSitAndTalk tag into a global 'trending topic' for three hours, to make the message visible.
You have become the main objective of police agents and judges, under the accusation of “terrorism”. Are you aware that the Guardia Civil and the Policía Nacional are working around the clock to bring you before the judges, and give you exemplary sentences?
It is, in any case, the problem of Spanish citizens, because they know that their government can persecute them for terrorism for the mere fact of demonstrating in the streets. The question is, then, where are the fundamental rights enshrined in the Spanish Constitution that they so much defend?
It must be assumed that if there are arrests against alleged members of Democratic Tsunami, you will have some plan B, or C, D...
Tsunami are thousands of people. To think that some arrests will stop a campaign that defends “fundamental rights, freedom for prisoners, exiles and reprisals and the right to self-determination", they must be very shortsighted.
ANC, Omnium Cultural, CDR... Why create a new platform?
Tsunami is not a platform. It is a campaign with concrete objectives. It doesn't pretend to occupy any space.
What does Democratic Tsunami contribute, that other organizations do not?
New ways of proposing non-violent actions. Tsunami aims to contribute ideas, creativity, and to make people remember that there is always a way forward.
Do you give different meanings the the terms 'peaceful', 'non-violent', 'resistance'...?
They can be synonymous and complementary. The important thing is never to think that non-violence implies inaction or passivity.
In what dynamics do you fit?
In the one that suits each moment.
The Democratic Tsunami’s methodology is completely new. You are not a party, nor a union, nor a body with identifiable members... but your calls for action are being very successful.
There are between two and three million people who have been actively defending self-determination in Catalonia for years. It is not surprising that they are still there, when someone proposes an effective and forceful way to continue with the demand.
Isn't it striking that thousands of citizens support a call, and not to plant flowers, without knowing which specific people are behind the platform?
People are very clear about what it is at stake, and directly assume complicity, responsibility and discretion. This derives directly from all the autumn mobilisations in 2017. The bonds and circles of trust created at that time not only continue, but have expanded.
You seem to have an intergenerational audience.
Tsunami's three axes of claim are intended to directly appeal to the entire population.
Until now we have known the blockades of Barcelona airport and of the main highway in the border, road cuts, demonstrations...
At all times, the action will be adapted to the fulfillment of the objectives set.
Is the tax objection included among the possible future actions?
The capacity for surprise is an important element when it comes to proposing actions.
What is your analysis of the political situation in Catalonia?
Tsunami has reiterated that it does not intend to become a new analyst of the current political situation. There are enough of them.
Do you have confidence in the Catalan institutions that are in pro-independence party’s hands?
We are not here to give our opinion.
Are you a counterweight to these institutions or are you complementary to them?
A campaign that calls for democracy can never think of itself as supplanting what citizens choose democratically. That would be a paradox.
In the last decade we have seen that in Catalonia there are many people willing to take part in mobilisations and to assume the consequences. The Democratic Tsunami has come at a time when the independence movement is very divided.
It is a plausible reality that the independence parties can have different objectives at any given moment. This in no way implies a division of the independence movement. Independence has always been formed by many fragments that fit together.
What do you think of the actions of the political leadership of the Mossos in the recent protests?
We don't want to be political analysts. Even so, Tsunami has shown its opposition to tactics and uses of materials banned in Catalonia against people who were simply demonstrating.
You disassociated yourselves from the altercations that took place in Barcelona (Via Layetana...) during the first week of the Supreme Court ruling. Why?
Tsunami has not disassociated itself from those facts. It simply did not call those protests.
When will the Democratic Tsunami cease to exist? After what?
Tsunami is a campaign that asks the [Spanish] State to sit down and talk about three issues that are shared by the majority of the Catalan population. As long as these objectives are met, it will adapt. The time of big headlines and future forecasts is over.
