The way things are done, behavior, has far more significance than we often realize. After all, forms also shape the substance of things. In today's politics, abrupt, rude, and broad-stroked methods have prevailed, far from stylish, or at least with a brutalist style that makes no concession to elegance, kindness, or nuance. Trump is the culmination of a ruthless way of exercising power. An option chosen to make it clear that, in politics, force or the threat of using it is everything. Rudeness and fear turned into virtues. The Popular Party and the entire Spanish far right practice similar procedures. It's about being unpleasant, disqualifying one's opponent to the point of paroxysm, eliminating any kind of humanity from the consideration of "others." Much of this occurred in Catalonia during the height of the Process. Any subtlety or interest in dialogue disappeared; the possibility of thinking differently was denied; the adversary was not recognized. There were only enemies to denigrate. –idiots– in the most extreme way possible. But a path that exhausted itself. The 2024 elections showed that a large portion of Catalan citizens wanted something else, believed in another path, as well as in other ways of doing politics.
This August marks one year since Salvador Illa became president of the Generalitat. He achieved this by creating a complex political and parliamentary balance, surpassing even the last performance Carles Puigdemont's independence movement. Everyone knew the new president's calm, peace-making, and pact-making nature. For some, his profile was too moderate to be heard in an excessively noisy Catalan politics. Others said he had a "low profile," as he was not prone to outbursts or shouting. In the eyes of many, it was incomprehensible that he didn't practice anti-independence sentiment, and even more so, that he even extended his hand, aware that Catalonia is made up of and that everyone fits in. Today he even allows himself a gesture that not everyone understands, such as meeting with the former president in Brussels. After so many years of forced unanimity, some found the concept of a plural, open, and inclusive Catalonia in which all political approaches should be possible unfamiliar. This "quiet strength" that is Salvador Illa's style has been gaining ground, and one year later, it's quite evident that it resonates with many people, whether they voted for him or not. As was evident, the epic proclamations and confrontations led nowhere and caused a division that, today, very few people want to recover. Beyond the political program that has begun to be implemented, the major or minor changes, or even issues that are difficult to address within parliamentary circles, a new style has taken hold. the style, in Catalan politics, despite attempts by a certain opposition to maintain previous forms.
Whether we like the new government's priority objectives or not, it cannot be denied that a long-awaited calm has been restored to the country's political climate. A large part of society, whether pro-independence or not, appreciates the pacification of the language and the fact that political discussion is shaped by real issues that affect them: housing, reindustrialization, tourism control, education, language, health, territory... Evaluating a year of government by its results seems somewhat forced, as a considerably larger margin is needed. For the moment, we can assess priorities, efforts, attitudes, responsiveness, and the always complex fit within Spanish politics. The issue of the funding review is, especially for the pro-independence movement, the touchstone of the assessment of this government, probably requiring excessive haste on an issue that has its own particular timing. The poisoned dynamics of Spanish politics certainly don't help. Despite the difficulties in forming a majority that would allow the 2026 budget to be approved, the political stability that almost everyone takes for granted does not seem to be in danger in Catalonia. Beyond the same old stale right and far right or the new version of Guifré el Pilós, the groups that could oppose it are notoriously unarmed. They have no antidote to a political style they have not practiced for many years. Maintaining the abrupt forms to which they had grown accustomed is now clearly dissonant. This is a great victory, the greatest, for the current government. The spokespersons for Junts cannot find the tone to oppose it and, for now, they do not have leaders who can do so. The diatribes that Oriol Junqueras occasionally makes sound much more like those of a medieval monastery. Some say that Salvador Illa's great advantage is that he has no opposition. In part, this is true. Whoever should be doing it needs new spokespersons and to adapt to a more positive and measured style, in which oleander-like forms and offensive adjectives no longer work. For now, Salvador Illa has prevailed through style rather than specific policies. There are still those who haven't understood that style itself is a significant part of the project.
