CUP burns Silvia Orriola portraits amid Catalan election campaign

CUP sets Silvia Orriola's photo on fire, revealing its electoral panic

Burning the image of a candidate with a real chance of winning the Catalan elections is the latest gesture by the CUP against Silvia Orriola, a figure who, according to the analysis of those who trinc her, embodies a cross-party Spanish nationalism that the independence movement does not know how to attack. The episode, circulating on social media, has peine the debate over the methods of the anti-capitalist party and over the true reach of Orriola's political option.

Identity and symbol: the perfect target

The candidate, whom some describe as having a "super-Spanish" trajectory with the capacity to win even Moncloa (the Spanish prime minister's residence), has become the favourite target of a sector of Catalonia's radical left. The burning of portraits, a classic of symbolic protest, takes on a different dimension here: striking at a female figure who, unlike other leaders, cannot be trapped by the Catalonia-versus-Spain dichotomy.

• The photo circulating, showing Orriola in the attitude of throwing an object, has been the subject of memes and parodies ridiculing the action.
• The epithet "posh" applied to the CUP underlines the contradiction of an anti-establishment party with practices that smell of privilege.

The grand manoeuvre theory

One current of thought holds that incidents like this are pieces on a larger board: on this reading, public discontent is channelled towards a controlled opposition, and Orriola would be no exception. Hence some see behind the burning a self-interested provocation, though without providing evidence. The argument, repeated ad nauseam, ends up ruling out the possibility of any real change.

And now, the narrative that prevails

The CUP's gesture will probably achieve the opposite effect: reinforcing Orriola's image as something new amid the noise. If the polls are right, the pro-independence party will have to live with an uncomfortable rival, and not by burning paper. The question that remains is whether a strategy based on such crude provocation can sustain a serious political project.