Antoni Bassas' analysis: 'Spain is sinking the economy it lives off'

Hello, how are you?

Commuter rail, minute by minute and result this morning: 11 sections must be completed by coach, and on those sections by train, delays and disruptions are widespread. We've been like this for ten days now. Even Minister Puente, who conducts politics by shoving people around, had to back down yesterday. to acknowledge the undeniable fact, which is that the service is "terrible". He said it in every tone:

"Is the commuter rail system in very bad shape? Yes, nobody denies it, I don't dispute it, no triumphalism. But you know better than anyone that we are working very hard, investing a lot, to try to reverse this situation."

Now, since Puente can't be acting as Puente, he wanted us to believe there's some difference between the PP and the PSOE regarding trains. Just one fact, Minister: In the last three years for which data is available, 2021, 2022, and 2023 (Sánchez's socialist government), The percentage of execution of what the Spanish government has budgeted in Catalonia has been 19% in 2021, 34% in 2022 and 42% in 2023. What are you telling us, Minister? Don't say that not everyone is equally responsible. Or hasn't the PSOE continued to prioritize the high-speed rail and dismantle the commuter rail system?

Speaking of political leaders, this morning Councilor Dalmau went on TV3 and insisted that there is no alternative but to comply with the agreement between the State and the Generalitat (Catalan government) joint venture, arguing that he "could promise impossible things," but that they wouldn't work, an implicit reference to the independence movement, and that it is essential for a country to function properly when promises aren't kept and create frustration. The councilor is very young, but this year marks the 20th anniversary of the Statute referendum, which was agreed upon by 90% of the Catalan Parliament. It was ultimately curtailed by the Constitutional Court. And so it goes. The State's lack of investment interest in Catalonia is structural, inherent, and normal. So much so that promising that the joint venture will work, with those responsible for the chaos on board, seems impossible to me. And nothing would please me more than to be wrong. But I don't think so.

Because it's not just the commuter rail, it's everything: international trains coming from Europe can't enter Catalonia, and trains are piling up in France because they can't cross the border. Why?

Because a crack in that tunnel you see, the one in Rubí, is preventing goods from passing through on the Mediterranean Corridor. They're repairing it, but for the moment it's impassable. And since the R4 is closed in Gelida, freight traffic to Tarragona, Zaragoza, and the rest of the Peninsula is also disrupted. In short, Catalan factories can neither ship their products nor receive the materials to manufacture them. And the ports of Barcelona and Tarragona are experiencing even less freight traffic. Because, of course, the normal thing would be to say that while they're fixing the Rubí tunnel, they're sending the goods via the highway. But which one, if the AP-7 is closed southbound near Martorell? They're sinking the Catalan economy. What a joke it is to pay taxes under these conditions. The economist Ramon Trias Fargas's words about premeditated strangulation are becoming a reality. On Monday, we'll see if the commuter rail service is running by train or bus.

Good morning.