“It’s incredible that these things still happen”

Andrea Fernández is a worker of an NGO who simply raised to access an act on democratic memory called to the siege of the Cantabria PSOE interested in the elimination of the name of 18 streets with the denominations of Franco after the order of the prosecutor’s office. However, at 33 and tanned in political activism in different organizations and social movements, he has become an involuntary protagonist to be the person who intervened quickly and effectively to get out of the room in which he was with several dozen people plus home artefacts with explosive socialists.

“I had never imagined so far that I could be in danger of exercising my freedom. And I am not only talking about myself, but anyone who participates and implies in public life,” he always admits with the fear of the body. As it tells, everything happened very quickly, almost without the rest of the participants being aware of what was going on, which remains no seriousness in the situation: “I think we were waiting for something like that, above all, because of fear and the feeling of impunity, to think that these things still happen.”

How is this afternoon at the headquarters of the Cantabria PSOE?

The truth is that I am always in shock for what has happened, but especially because someone like me goes to an act of a political party with absolute normality and does not imagine that there can be a danger and something like that can happen. It’s pretty shocking.

How much did the artefacts discovered that a hooded man introduced to the head office during an act on historical memory?

It was very fast. We were about 60 or 70 people during an act at the headquarters of the PSOE of Cantabria, which he had attended as an assistant, and was seated at the back of the room. I heard a loud noise, I turned and saw a person run. Besides me, there were plastic bottles that someone had launched … They gave me a very bad spine, so I took them quickly and I took them on the street, because I did not understand what they did there, it was very rare. They had a message written directly against the Socialist Party and a rather strange appearance. When I took them, I realized that they barely weighed anything, but that they had aluminum bullets inside, so I left them quickly on the sidewalk, at the main exit of the seat. They started to swell and exploded almost immediately.

Are the rest of the participants aware of what was going on?

No, no, because everything happened very quickly. I was sitting behind, and although there was a stronger noise when they launched the bottles, I guess they thought that something had fallen, or that everything had happened in normal … When they exploded in the street, the detonation was heard, but we tried to give it a normality so that panic was not frightened or dismissed, that people were calm. It seemed to have launched a rocket or a firecracker on the street, nothing more. But of course, if he had exploded in the room, we were 60 or 70 people and it would have been worse, clearly.

Has the person who launched these artefacts entered the headquarters as a more assistant and fled after launching bottles with explosive liquid?

That is to say yes, yes. The door was open for the act, entered and launched the bottles of the chairs in which we were sitting after the speech. Thus, a partner who saw him commented did so with desire, strong, trying to cause the explosion, because this liquid when Agitas is when the reaction produced, as they explained later.

Have material damage took place?

No. When you remove it, we left it on the sidewalk and the explosion occurred there, at the seat of the siege, there was therefore no damage.

Was the act developed normally?

Yes, yes, the act was able to continue normally. Some people, such as the secretary general himself, Pedro Casares, came out, but we tried not to transcend while the national police arrived and gave us the corresponding indications. It was very fast. Once the police arrived, they asked us all kinds of questions and watched the case, with the security cameras and the declarations of the witnesses we could see what happened.

I have campaigned and participated in different political activism and social movements and I had never imagined so far that I could be in danger of exercising my freedom. And I’m not just talking about myself, but anyone who participates and is involved in public life

Has the person who launched the artifacts within the headquarters been identified?

I was on my back and I saw no one enter, before I heard the noise. The person I saw running was the companion who had seen this individual throw away the objects and leave behind, but he could not see his face or identify him. It did not give time, it was in seconds, everything happened very quickly. From now on, he remains in the hands of the police to identify him and conduct the corresponding investigation.

Have you been told that if a danger worked or if the decision to bring these objects into the street quickly was the best alternative?

What they told me is that this type of artifacts would not have caused terrible damage, but it is true that, in my case, having taken them, they could have exploited me in my hands or near the eyes, and be acidic … causing damage or injuries. And in the law itself, the same fear caused by the explosion could have caused a stampede in an act in a closed place where no one is expected.

The Cantabria PSOE summoned this recruit concentration after this deliberate act at the match of the match this Saturday. Will it be?

Of course. This is where you must be. I think we don’t expect something like that, above all, because of fear and the feeling of impunity, to think that these things still happen. What happened this Friday is strong, but above all, it makes you think about the way we got here. The way we arrive at a person goes with explosive artefacts to a party headquarters and put the participants in danger, in addition, in an act on democratic memory. You feel helpless. I will of course be in this concentration. You must be firm against this type of act. I am very surprised that these things still happen, really. I have campaigned and participated in different political activism and social movements and I had never imagined so far that I could be in danger of exercising my freedom. And I’m not just talking about myself, but anyone who participates and implies in public life.