The two major pro-independence parties have had another stellar week. Not long ago, we were celebrating the agreement between the PSOE and Junts on immigration, and the applause from ERC. Puigdemont also (quite quietly) welcomed the agreement on the partial forgiveness of regional debt, and remained silent when Turull accused ERC of negotiating a transfer. fake of the commuter train. At the recent party congress, Junqueras insisted on this direction and proclaimed, before "my friend Jordi Turull," that the progress made in self-government, whether achieved by Junts or ERC, should satisfy all pro-independence parties. But a few days later, Junts and Republicans were already calling each other names in the Parliament and the Congress of Deputies. Either Puigdemont and Junqueras lack authority over their respective pawns, or they're already happy to stir up the quarrel without getting their hands dirty.
It must be admitted that the elected representatives of Junts have been especially belligerent after the last elections, where they hoped that ERC would refuse to negotiate with the PSC, to force a patriotic A repeat election, which suited Puigdemont (we don't know why). ERC wasn't impressed and negotiated a unique financing model with Isla, which Junts immediately ridiculed. It did the same with the transfer of the commuter rail network. These are two highly difficult operations that require time, tenacity, and above all, no obstacles. Without an alignment between the two pro-independence parties, it's very difficult for all of this to move forward. Something that, incidentally, Junts has also realized after agreeing to the amnesty or official status of Catalan in Europe.
Junts' attitude is aggravated by its carrot-and-stick strategy, which occasionally aligns it with the PP and Vox to defeat the Sánchez government's initiatives. In some cases, it does so out of ideological affinity; in others, it is due to its addiction to the media spotlight. The public health agency law, which had been agreed upon with amendments from ERC and Junts, was rejected in Congress in retaliation for disagreement with the PSOE on another matter.
Although ERC's attitude is generally more cautious, there is one factor with a name and surname that balances the forces: Gabriel Rufián. This week, he has been particularly vocal, accusing one Junts deputy of being "miserable" and another of being a "rat." In both cases, they were responses to previous, perhaps unfair, attacks; but Rufián is too fond of strong words that guarantee headlines. Francesc de Dalmases countered by comparing him to Nazis, but Dalmases is an irrelevant deputy, while Rufián—herein lies the problem—is the best-known and most influential leader within ERC. He is the one who sets the temperature of relations with Junts, as much as, if not more than, Junqueras. And his outbursts make Junts members feel like victims and blow Junqueras's supposedly moderate strategy to bits.
Rufián achieved great results thanks to his wit and calculated arrogance. He helped reinforce the party's mixed-race and left-wing profile and dispel its complexes regarding the powerful around convergent. But his vehemence, and his notoriety, inflated by left-wing Spanish journalism (for not entirely innocent reasons), may be an excessive counterweight to Junqueras's leadership—his narrative leadership, at least. Perhaps they'll tell me it's a classic good cop/bad cop exercise. If this is the case, it doesn't seem to me to work: in movies, the good cop is usually the protagonist.
