The mystery of Spain's firecracker envelopes
💥Why has the government taken a week to notify an investigating judge of the envelope sent to Sánchez last Thursday?
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The Spanish Home Office announced in a press release this morning that "an envelope with pyrotechnic material" was sent to the Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez at Moncloa last week, on Thursday, November 24. The press release said the government had only notified an investigating judge this morning.
At a press conference later in the morning, Rafael Pérez, the Secretary of State for Security, spoke of a "deflagration" not an "explosion", a flame not a bomb, and said there are "indications that the origin is on Spanish territory itself”. The terrorist alert level is not being raised. Asked more specific questions by journalists, Pérez referred to the judicial investigation.
There have now been five similar envelopes: the Ukrainian Embassy yesterday, the headquarters of weapons manufacturer Instalaza in Zaragoza, the satellite center at the Torrejón air base, the Ministry of Defense and now, according to the Government, the letter for Sánchez in Moncloa last week, which would make that envelope the first in the series.
From the outset, what happened and announced is reminiscent of last year with those envelopes with bullets and a knife before the elections in Madrid, when Pablo Igleisas, the Minister of the Interior, the Director of the Civil Guard and the Minister of Tourism were the recipients. After the elections, in July, the investigation was shelved without having identified anyone responsible.
Now, there are no elections. On a general level, if we think about Spain's support for Ukraine after the Russian invasion, the recipients this week could have some thematic connection in the mind of an aggressor. But what's the point of organising all that with five firecrackers, deflagrations with flames, not exploding bombs? Some kind of message or warning, or a random ideological nutjob? Yesterday, reports indicated "a small injury to the ring finger of the right hand" of the worker affected at the Ukranian Embassy.
Regarding the envelope sent to Sánchez last week, why did the government take a week to notify an investigating judge? Why did they wait for a week and the investigation opened yesterday as a result of what happened at the Embassy, instead of initiating the investigation themselves? If they had warned people earlier, could they perhaps have prevented the other envelopes discovered since yesterday from arriving?
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