A photo that could be worth a few quotes, or even two.

Given the current state of affairs in Spanish politics, with tensions becoming the norm and polls showing a general shift of the electorate to the right, this could be the last chance for Pedro Sánchez's government to approve a budget that incorporates the proposals of the parties that support him, both left-wing and right-wing. Many of the demands and proposals that are now blocking these agreements will be difficult to achieve if the PP ultimately wins, especially if it does so with the necessary support of Vox, as has been seen in what they have done in the regions they now govern. It is possibly for this reason that the Socialists, both Catalan and non-Catalan, have considered thatBut it is time to take a photo with Carles Puigdemont in Brussels.The one who has gone is Salvador Illa, and it makes sense that the president of the Generalitat would be the one to take the step first, but it wouldn't be surprising if in the not-too-distant future we also see the Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez, taking the photo. In any case, this thaw, which had already begun with negotiations with Santos Cerdán—the former secretary of organization of the PSOE, currently indicted in the Koldo case—and with the amnesty law, which has not yet been fully implemented, required a higher-level image to demonstrate a normalization of relations between a Spanish socialism that had supported.

All of this has been accompanied, and perhaps not coincidentally, by the approval by the Council of Ministers of the law allowing the forgiveness of a portion of the regional debt—which would allow Catalonia to avoid paying around €17 billion—and by the approval by the Governing Council of the spending ceiling of €100 million, the highest to date, which is the step prior to drafting a budget. The point is that Pedro Sánchez isn't the only one who needs a budget. Salvador Illa also dreams of achieving one, although in his case he possibly has a little more leeway than the Spanish prime minister. Be that as it may, right now in Catalonia we are working on the 2023 budget, and although it has already been demonstrated that it is possible to operate with prorogued accounts, a few years have been wasted in implementing new proposals and investments, which with the help from Brussels—which will soon end—perhaps would have given the necessary push.

Today, the two major engines that shaped the political and social agenda in both Spain and Catalonia—the 15-M movement and its consequences, and the Process—are running out of gas. The parties that legitimately defend them no longer have the same social support that made them almost hegemonic, and citizens' interests, without forgetting their ideals, are becoming more pragmatic. They demand concrete action on basic issues, such as transportation, housing, and the creation of quality jobs. Even so, electoral fragmentation makes the votes of these parties essential in both Madrid and Catalonia, where both Junts and Podem are always a thorn in the side of every negotiation. What happens with the financial statements, and generally with the country's political direction, will depend on these parties' interpretation of the global, state, and national situation. Today's photo is relevant, therefore, for both parties.