Approve Orriols' budgets

Beyond the very short-term vision that usually dominates political parties and this Wednesday's discussion in Parliament (surprise: the one who got more wet, or who spread more butter, was Orriols), the Ripoll episode, in which the municipal budgets presented by a fascist and racist party like Alianza Catalana were approved with the votes of two PSC councilors, points to the questions of a not-so-distant future. Questions like these: What policy will Catalan parties follow regarding AC, the day after the next municipal elections? Will they make a deal with it? Will they not make a deal but "consent" to receive its "external" support to invest mayors and government teams? And a little later, to approve budgets? Or will they follow (as should undoubtedly be done with fascist and/or far-right formations) a cordon sanitaire policy? The two socialist councilors have been dismissed for having contravened their party's position on this matter, and that is correct (if we're asking for things, this same speed would be appreciated, in all parties, in other internal matters, such as those affecting corruption or sexual harassment). But the reasonable doubt persists: in the next municipal elections, scheduled for 2027, all surveys and polls predict an exponential increase in votes and representation for AC, in line with the rise experienced by far-right and racist formations throughout the West (it is true that the first signs of a certain deflation are beginning to be perceived, such as Orbán's defeat in Hungary, Donald Trump's low popularity in the US, the small but significant changes of course by the opportunistic Meloni in Italy, but of course all this, as of today, means nothing concrete: talking about trend changes is premature and illusory).

If surveys and polls translate into electoral results, a great many things in Catalonia will depend on AC's votes, starting with the configuration of many town councils. Will the firmness in the "cordon sanitaire" policy then be maintained? Since AC's appearance on the Catalan political scene, all eyes have been on Junts, and it's logical, because the convergents are the ones with the most extensive electoral border with the self-proclaimed independentist far-right party (another aspect that should be called into question). But the question also applies to the left, including the PSC, ERC, and Comuns: how and to what extent do they plan to distance themselves from Aliança Catalana? The question is opportune on a day when a Vox deputy (Aliança Catalana's sister party), José María Sánchez, was expelled from Congress after confronting the acting president. This Sánchez is not only a deputy: he is also a judge on leave. This means they are involved in all parts of the institutions, and it's high time to have a well-defined way of relating to them.