20 years of the Statute

On September 30, 2005, a major national pact was sealed, making the new Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia possible. The context at that time could be summarized as follows: there was economic prosperity, the first tripartite coalition governed in Catalonia with Pasqual Maragall as president, CiU was the leading force in Parliament with 46 deputies after winning the elections against all odds, and in Spain, Rodríguez Zapatero's PSOE governed after the war in Iraq and the Iraq wars. And an additional, no less important fact: Zapatero had solemnly promised that he would endorse the Statute of Autonomy that emerged from the Catalan Parliament.

Catalan politics at that time revolved almost exclusively around the proposed new Statute. It was the big issue, as the independence process would later become in later years. The big difference, however, lies in the fact that the Statute was a bid to maximize self-government, but within the constitutional framework, while the Process was a major constitutional conflict, stemming largely from the Constitutional Court's ruling that had mutilated the Statute agreed upon in Madrid and approved in a binding referendum by the people.

I'm taking advantage of this 20th anniversary to offer some reflections that reflect on the current political situation in our country. The first thought that comes to mind has to do with the concept of perseverance and will. Catalonia has spent two decades shaping powerful national horizons, fighting hard and expending a lot of energy, but without the hoped-for success. This struggle makes perfect sense, because our country cannot unleash its full potential without a substantial improvement in its self-government and resources. Nor can it provide a satisfactory solution to the problems accumulating in a society of 8 million people, with the tensions caused by population growth driven exclusively by immigration. Therefore, if Catalonia wants to maintain an ambitious national project, far removed from mediocrity and sterile conformism, it must continue working to gain sovereignty and strengthen the European project, the only umbrella that can protect us a bit in the event of a severe storm.

A second reflection stemming from the Statute of Autonomy agreement, which brought together 80% of the deputies in the Parliament at that time, is to affirm that the country's major issues require major national agreements. There doesn't need to be many, but they must be well chosen. I know from experience that reaching agreements from the opposition isn't easy, but anyone who, in addition to being in opposition, wants to be perceived as an alternative government must be willing to agree on major issues, setting conditions to defend their own project. The Statute of Autonomy was made this way. The defense of the right to decide also with less solid but nonetheless consistent majorities. I add to this reflection that, in a major agreement, the one who has the most merit is the one who is in opposition, because their role is more difficult and thankless, but the one who has the greatest responsibility is the government, which must know how to compromise more. I believe that on the table of Catalan politics, there are many important issues that justify an approach like the one I outline in these lines.

Another thought that stems from the Statute of Autonomy pact revolves around the utopia that if we reach an agreement in Catalonia, Madrid will accept it and listen to us. Recent history shows that reaching an agreement in Catalonia is a necessary but not sufficient condition. The more ambitious the project proposed by Catalonia, the greater the opposition there will be in Madrid. The State will find a way to dilute the Catalan proposal, to postpone it until it melts away, or to destroy it outright. This evidence should not detain us, either in relation to the pact or the proposal, but we cannot live with a mirage that vanishes soon after appearing on the horizon.

A politically fragmented and socially tense Catalonia should be an avoidable scenario. At the time the Statute was approved, there were five political parties in the Parliament; now there are eight. Catalonia had just over six million inhabitants; today it has more than eight, and growing. If we don't update the national project, we will not only lose opportunities, but we will also create rifts that we could avoid. There are no magic or miraculous solutions, as we see in other more developed, more well-off countries with greater democratic quality than ours. And yet, it's not worth resigning or shying away from the challenges before us. In my opinion, we must identify a few truly key issues, reach agreements, and lead. And keep in mind that, if we do so, Madrid will not be waiting for us with open arms, ready to accommodate us. But if we don't do so, at some point we will have to accept the mea culpa as a country.