Antoni Bassas's analysis: 'Jordi Pujol against the message of Aliança Catalana'

Sánchez's appearance to take stock of the year was exactly as we had predicted: he will hold on.

In his view, the macroeconomic figures are good, a PP-Vox government would be very bad ("a historic mistake," he said), and in January he will meet with Oriol Junqueras to make gestures toward his investiture partners and with a leader still barred from holding office because the amnesty has not yet been fully applied to him. He said this at midday and repeated it in the afternoon at the Christmas meeting with journalists at Moncloa Palace.

But above all the determination to resistThere is evidence that the Spanish president has ended the year politically and physically exhausted, drained, depressed, and drained. And following the arrests for alleged corruption and the cases of harassment within the PSOE that came to light last week, his rhetoric sounds increasingly less convincing. Just yesterday, Sumar, a coalition partner, said that Sánchez's speech was inadequate, and the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) says they are no better off than before.

And there is great weariness within their own ranks. Listen to the mayor of A Coruña, the socialist Inés Rey, asking the men of her party to come out and criticize sexist behavior.

"I miss hearing my male colleagues speak out. Male colleagues. Those holding important political positions. Where are they? Where are the feminist men?"

There is weariness with scandals, yes, but, for the moment, the fear of a PP-Vox government is even stronger. And this remains the thread by which Sánchez is still hanging, the one he intends to cling to until 2027. We might ask ourselves what the point is of clinging on for the sake of clinging on if you can't pass a budget, or hardly any important legislation. A prominent Catalan socialist gave me an answer yesterday: "Besides the fact that Sánchez has proven to be a political animal, if you know they're coming for you, that they don't just want to oust you from the government but that they want you in jail, what are you going to do? Hang on."

And finally, an important point. Today, the Candel Year officially closes with an event at the Palau de la Generalitat. This year, 2025, marks the centenary of the birth of Paco Candel, who, as you know, wrote the book The other Catalans In 1964, he spoke of the problems and the hopes for integration in Catalonia of so many Spanish immigrants who had come seeking a future in our country. He wrote it during the dictatorship, that is, at a time when the idea of integrating into Catalonia had no political means to make it possible.

Well, a lifelong supporter of Candel, the president Pujol, at 95 years old, has written an article in La Vanguardia today in which he says the following"[The Other Catalans] is the book that has contributed most to fostering hope, progress, justice, and overall well-being in Catalonia." He adds: "I am a man with a few obsessions, which have certainly worsened with age. I am 95 now. And I am not in top form. But one of these obsessions has to do with Catalonia, with all those who live and work in Catalonia and who form the backbone of the country I want." And with Candel.

Pujol's message, at the end of his life, is clear: the path for Catalonia cannot be, should not be, Aliança Catalana, but rather integration and self-esteem. In fact, Pujol himself explained that he had wanted to go to Ripoll to explain this, but that the idea was not well received in Junts. Speaking of immigration, Pujol admitted that now "we have reasons to be afraid, but we must believe in ourselves" and overcome the mere stage of fear and wishful thinking.

Good morning.