As the Spanish State increasingly clamps down on free speech in the country, protests and riots have broken out in Catalonia after communist Catalan rapper Pablo Hasel was imprisoned for his left-wing music and his activism because it allegedly “glorifies terrorism and insults the Crown and Spanish state institutions”.⁠ We spoke with Mireia Vehí, left-wing congresswoman for the pro-Catalan independence Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP), about what is happening in Catalonia, in Spain and the freedom of speech in the country.