Miquel Roca, the escudella and the tax inspection

BarcelonaCatalonia does not have an economic agreement like the Basque Country because the political forces that held the majority in 1977—the PSC, the PSUC, and the UCD—did not want one. This is what Miquel Roca (Bordeaux, 1940), one of the fathers of the Constitution, stated during his participation in the series. Conversations with the dean at the College of Economists of Catalonia. Furthermore, the politician and lawyer added that the true importance of the special tax arrangement is not the tax model itself, but rather having access to tax inspection services, like in the Basque Country. "Sometimes I say they should erect a monument to us," he asserted. Because we discuss money, but not what he considers to be true power, which is having the authority to inspect.

Roca emphasized that this issue "is statutory, not constitutional." His party, which came in fourth in Catalonia in the 1977 general elections, presented a consensus proposal, which was rejected, he explained. "It didn't pass because the dominant forces in Catalonia were against it," he concluded. He also stated that he had been asked to subsequently raise the issue with Madrid. "I will never ask Madrid to agree to something that hasn't been agreed upon in Catalonia," he maintained.

In the section on personal matters, the lawyer, former member of parliament, and promoter of the so-called reformist operation, declared himself a lover of escudella (a Catalan stew) and stated that he is currently reading two books simultaneously, one by Ken Follett and the other by Dan Brown. "I'm an avid reader," he confessed. In his conversation with Dean Carles Puig de Travy, this jurist, a defender of consensus—"we have to talk, talk, and talk"—warned of the danger of the current political climate. "Polarization is not good economically. We will all pay the price. And, if this conflict is built on the desire for gridlock, we enter into utter ineffectiveness." In Spain, Roca added, "these confrontations have always ended badly," and he recalled that a similar atmosphere exists at the European level, which "sometimes even overwhelms us."

"I was born a lawyer"

Roca, who was president of the Convergència i Unió (CiU) parliamentary group in Congress from 1977 to 1995, recalled that there was rivalry during his time. "But when we came down from the podium, we'd go for a coffee. That's unthinkable today." The former politician was emphatic – "I was born a lawyer" – when he defended consensus. "I don't like conflict; collective conflict scares me a lot, and when it affects an entire country, it always ends badly," he added. Regarding the current economic situation, Roca says he's not worried that Catalonia has lost its leadership because what worries him is "that we're giving up on regaining it." "I don't want others to stagnate; what I want is for me to grow," he specified. In his opinion, although the economic situation is good, there are weaknesses such as the loss of ground in technology and innovation. "I don't believe that the ten-day leave for the death of a family member is a response to economic needs. We must be able to understand that we need economic dynamism, closely linked to innovation, but a collective national will is also necessary to move forward."