Antoni Bassas' analysis: You in Prats de Molló and me in China

The week begins with a news full of presidents:

Trump and Von der Leyen have reached an agreement on tariffs. between the United States and Europe. We've already had our fill of the sting because our wine, our oil, and everything we export will now pay a 15% tax, which is a lesser evil, but it's an evil nonetheless.

President Sánchez will also appear today to take stock before the holidays: he'll boast about the laws he's managed to pass, but the subtext of what he'll be thinking is different: now the holidays are coming up, and he'll have made it to September alive, which, for him, is a… lesser good. Is he ready to approve the budget for next year? Right now, it doesn't seem that way.

And another president, Carles Puigdemont, is also making headlines. Yesterday, he gathered around 1,500 people in Prats de Molló to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the founding of Junts per Catalunya.

Puigdemont tried to offer a boost of self-esteem to his people, with quotes from Xavier Trias ("to those who buried us, let them bomb you!") and explained the usefulness of his party thus:

"And we will always say ours, and that's why we make people uncomfortable. We make those who stand on the extremes uncomfortable. They are very comfortable on the extremes, they live very well one extreme versus the other, and they don't want to leave. We make those who practice populism uncomfortable or those who leave home under pressure, saying: 'No, they won't accept this!' Well, let them say it!

Aside from this clapboard in Esquerra (described by Junqueras's party as "unhealthy supremacy"), it was interesting that Puigdemont claimed to be the leader of a party that aspires to reach everyone from the center, against the extremes, and this applies to both Aliança Catalana and Podemos, parties that he described without "Together," as "manoeuvres of hope." There was a convergent tone in the position he presented as centrist, possibilist, and, at the same time, so demanding of Madrid that the PSOE cannot take its votes for granted.

The president in exile cannot leave Prats de Molló, because he is not yet amnestied, while President Salvador Illa is in China where he met yesterday with representatives of the Huawei company. And this morning with representatives of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, with whom he has discussed establishing a closer trade relationship. There's also a Pujol-like quality to this outing to attract investment, although Pujol often found himself open to the highest political authorities in the countries he visited.

By the way, news: Isla has raised the tone regarding Sijena. He told the president of Aragon that "he should thank the MNAC and the people of Catalonia who saved these works many years ago because, otherwise, they wouldn't be here today." And technicians from Aragon are entering the MNAC today to analyze Sijena's art.

Good morning.