Judge Garzon ordered the arrests of Pernando Barrera, the spokesman for the banned ETA-front party Batasuna, and fellow pro-terrorist bigwig Patxi Urrutia, on charges of belonging to a terrorist organization. 19 of the 38 members of Batasuna's central committee are now in jail, either awaiting trial or after sentencing. Good.

Alzheimer's sufferer Pasqual Maragall has bolted the Catalan Socialist Party and, in an incoherent article in La Vanguardia, encouraged the citizens to turn in blank ballots at the March 9 election. Pasky's own brainchild embryonic political party, the Catalan Party of Europe, failed to submit a list of candidates and so cannot participate in the election. Somebody please get this guy to shut up before he makes a completer ass of himself than he already has. It's embarrassing to have him running around jabbering nonsense while billed as the former Barcelona mayor and Catalan premier. Oh, well, at least his silliness makes the Socialists look bad.

More racist public behavior in Spain: A bunch of fans of the racing driver Fernando Alonso screamed vile insults at his British rival, Lewis Hamilton, who happens to be black, at the Circuit de Catalunya racetrack in Montmeló. They got away with it on Saturday, but on Sunday the organizers actually kicked some of the loudmouths out, something soccer clubs do not do. The international federation has threatened the management with sanctions if it happens again, which doesn't seem like a strict enough punishment to me.