The balances of the agreement on the Catalan commuter rail network

The agreement presented this Thursday on the new Cercanías de Catalunya operator, which is to manage this mobility service so hotly contested by users, is an example of the balancing act that often must be struck in politics to achieve success. The Generalitat (Catalan regional government) will have a majority on the operator's board of directors, with five out of nine members, and will therefore control the management of the service, but ownership will remain in the hands of Renfe, which will retain 50.1% of the shares. This balance had been accepted by ERC (Regional Workers' Party) as a temporary solution, and two years were given for the operator to be fully owned by the Generalitat (Catalan regional government). However, due to a combination of technical and labor factors, it has been decided that this timeline will remain, for now, frozen.

It is clear to everyone that maintaining the majority shareholding in the hands of Renfe was a condition of the company's employees, who will not formally become part of the Generalitat's workforce, although they will be managed by the Catalan government. This is a compromise formula that allows the agreement to be unblocked, avoid a worker boycott, pave the way for the formation of the new operator, and thus move forward with assuming management of the commuter rail service, which is the real priority—provided, of course, that the necessary resources are available.

The goal is for the new operator to begin operating by the end of the year or early next year. Then comes a particularly delicate step: the transfer of the infrastructure and associated real estate (stations, for example), beginning with line R1. This will be the real test, since if the transfer is carried out correctly and users begin to perceive an improvement in service, the Generalitat will be in a position to reopen the battle for ownership of the operator and the transfer of the remaining lines.

In any case, even with reductions compared to initial expectations, it's good that there are agreements and things are starting to happen. Experience shows that transfers are difficult and slow because many interests are at stake, and for Madrid they always represent a small tragedy, experienced as an unacceptable loss of sovereignty. The same is true in the case of public companies like Renfe. Regarding this specific transfer, it's worth emphasizing that it makes perfect sense for the management of the commuter trains to fall under the jurisdiction of the Generalitat (Catalan regional government), which is also responsible for territorial planning and, therefore, should also be responsible for mobility.

Now is the time to address the other major pending issue in the Salvador Illa investiture agreement between the ERC (Regionalist Party) and the PSC (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party), which is financing. Things look rosier here, but in the midst of the Cerdán case, it's also true that the PSOE might benefit from opening a new front that could provoke internal differences within the PP. In any case, quoting Diogenes, "As soon as you walk, you will see the signs of motion." And now is the time to walk.