New stage without turning the page

The PSC was the most voted party in Catalonia thanks to collecting the useful vote of constitutionalism at the expense of Ciudadanos, which has lost 30 seats, and the PP, which today is the smallest parliamentary force with three seats. Salvador Illa was the most voted candidate, but the elections are won by whoever wins a majority to be invested in Parliament, and voters have decided that Catalonia cannot turn the page and pretend that the dramatic past ten years can be erased as if nothing happened.

The pro-independence majority is larger than ever, and the new Parliament has 74 pro-independence MPs and over 50% of the votes, an advantage when sitting at the negotiating table the PSOE committed to and a useful international message. ERC won within the pro-independence bloc and Pere Aragonès beat the head of JxCat's list, Carles Puigdemont. A negotiation "on new bases", in Puigdemont's words, will now begin. Laura Borràs has shown that she is an effective candidate and now has in her hands to quickly negotiate a serious government, without frivolities and capable of managing the worst economic and health crisis that this country has ever experienced. The CUP will also have to decide what involvement it assumes.

The entry into Parliament of the far right, with 11 seats, deserves a separate chapter. Determined and serene action will be needed to prevent them from setting the agenda with their usual provocations, which manage to poison public debate even more.