These past few days, we've witnessed one of those episodes that make politics miserable, instead of useful and virtuous, which is what it should be. I'm referring to the shameless and shameful campaign by the PP and typically reactionary sectors of Spain to undermine Catalan's rightful status as an official language of the European Union. When the PP smells blood on the body of its adversary, it pounces like a shark to dismember and destroy it. Unfortunately, this is not a new attitude. It recalls, point by point, its attack on the Statute of Catalonia twenty years ago, collecting signatures across Spain to dismantle a political initiative that had a majority in the Catalan Parliament and would later be approved by the Catalan people via referendum. Then, it was about ousting Rodríguez Zapatero from the Moncloa Palace; today, it's about doing the same to Pedro Sánchez.
The PP's level of cynicism knows no bounds. He has gone from "speaking Catalan in private" when he needed Catalanist votes in Madrid to targeting Catalan in Europe, lest the president of the central government find himself with a lifeline that would keep him afloat for several more months in the Moncloa Palace. The Popular Party (PP) confuses Catalan with a commodity that can be exchanged at will, or with ammunition to weaken or eliminate adversaries. However, a language is neither a commodity nor ammunition: it is the heart that pumps the life of a culture and an identity. Also of the Catalan identity, whether they like it or not.
This week we saw how the recognition of Catalan in the EU was once again postponed. Although this time it seems the Spanish government has played its cards to the bone, it hasn't been enough to overcome reluctance and subdue interests. If reluctance can be understood, though not accepted, due to some countries' fear of setting precedents that could affect their internal situations, the same cannot be said of interests, which have much more to do with the struggles between ideological blocs within the European Union. It's very sad and disappointing to see this when what's at stake is the existence and progress of a language intimately embedded in European culture, of which we Catalans are also prominent and persevering forgers. We've been fighting for centuries to survive as a nation, and today, as yesterday, we are denied the bread and salt to defend our identity on equal terms. In the name of what? Well, in the name of spurious interests and unfounded fears.
Certainly, this is a postponement, not a relentless refusal. New attempts can and should be made to achieve the goal. However, the aftertaste left after this lost opportunity is more bitter than sweet. Time is passing, and we must not forget an essential aspect: we are halfway through the Spanish legislature, with, at most, two years until new elections, and the PSOE's incentives to comply with agreements will diminish as the end of President Sánchez's term approaches. This argument applies to the issue of language in Europe, but also to the full transfer of commuter rail, to one-off funding, or to the definitive implementation of the amnesty law, although the latter depends fundamentally on courts eager to put the Spanish government and even the Cortes Generales themselves right.
Many of the published polls point to a PP-Vox majority. The outcome is unwritten and the game is on, but unfortunately, the scent is this. I have no doubt that if the right and far right come together, they will govern. However, if at some point the PP intends to avoid falling into Vox's sharp clutches and broaden the horizon of their future alliances, the conclusion is that, with the track record they are accumulating, they will make it completely impossible. The list of grievances they are building regarding Catalonia is chilling: campaign and resources to destroy the Statute of Autonomy; a total refusal to negotiate a fiscal pact; the setup of Operation Catalonia to destroy ideas, parties, and people; mass espionage guided by the same desire for destruction; suspension of Catalan autonomy through Article 155 of the Constitution; maximum repression and violence against the will of many Catalans to vote at the polls, in consultations, or referendums—all of this is a horrifying experience. Pressure on all kinds of courts to toughen sentences against pro-independence supporters; a crusade against pardons and amnesty laws; and now, to top it all off, a miserable campaign to prevent Catalan from being official European languageWith this background, when they knock on the door, who will be able or willing to open it...?
