'Talking politics in television in Catalonia is a risky sport': Public broadcaster fears Spain takeover

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Hours after Friday's vote declaring Catalonia's independence from Spain, the region's public radio station was attacked, escalating concern. 

Now that Parliament has been dissolved and Madrid has invoked Article 155 in the Constitution — allowing the country to take control over Catalonia's public institutions — many civil servants are worried.

Public television news anchor Toni Cruanyes is one of them, and he fears the public broadcaster may be "silenced."

But for now, he says it's a normal day at the TV station and questions what will change. 

"It doesn't seem to me that the central government from Spain is strong enough to impose these direct rules to each of the departments of the Catalan government," Cruanyes tells The Current's Anna Maria Tremonti.

"It is easier for them to impose direct rule in the Catalan police, for example. It is very difficult to impose it in schools, in hospitals or even in television and radio stations."

As a public broadcaster, Cruanyes says coverage on this issue remains neutral and objective — "working in a pluralistic view."

But he says, "these days talking politics in television in Catalonia is a risky sport."

Even though society is divided now, Cruanyes says, "Catalonia has been for decades an example of cohesion."

"Even when you talk about all the places in the world where there have been conflicts, violent conflicts."

Moving forward as a public broadcaster, making sure both sides get airtime is always a priority and that doesn't change, according to Cruanyes. But he points out the station is facing some difficult questions to maintain a fair balance.

"I'm going to a meeting to try to discuss how do we have to talk about Carles Puigdemont? Is he still the president of Catalonia?" he tells Tremonti.

"We've got a president that has proclaimed the Catalan republic with an overall majority in the Catalan parliament — so he is for them the president of the Catalan Republic,"  Cruanyes explains.

"But on the other hand, you've got the direct rule from Madrid dismissing him, so for them, he's not president anymore. So how are we supposed to call him?"

Listen to the full segment above: including Barcelona reporter Gerry Hadden and analyst Carolina de Miguel Moyer.

This segment was produced by The Current's Samira Mohyeddin and Yamri Taddese.