
People’s Party candidate takes on protesters: “posh, totalitarian, reactionary, subsidised, spoilt kids”
Students at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) clashed with police on Thursday as they attempted to disrupt a unionist event attended by People’s Party officials.
“It’s not normal to come to a public university in a great European democracy in the 21st century and see this Dantesque scene,” said Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo, PP’s candidate for Barcelona in the Spanish general election.
With UAB regarded as one of Catalonia’s most left-leaning public universities, around 50 students tried to boycott the political event organized by a unionist organization, calling attendees “fascists.”
“It’s not normal to come to a public university in a great European democracy in the 21st century and see this Dantesque scene”
Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo · PP candidate in the Spanish election
The politician dismissed the protesters as “posh, totalitarian, reactionary, subsidised, spoilt kids.” In a reference to the Catalan independence movement, she accused the demonstrators of “trying to kidnap this university to turn a temple of knowledge, education, debate, information into a place at the service of a totalitarian and nationalist project.”
Some PP officials faced the demonstrators, which led to moments of tension. At least one person was filmed doing the Nazi salute when confronting the protesters.