Talk about what is appropriate

It is not about choosing which immigrant we like better, but about channeling the country's inevitable plurality into a shared framework that will either be Catalan or Spanish.

Perhaps it is obvious by now, but these elections are not about deciding the independence of Catalonia, which is eclipsed by an urgent problem of a global nature: the risk of seeing an authoritarian far-right in power—and in Spain's case—assimilative and traditionalist. Therefore, Catalan parties, including the pro-independence ones, are adapting to this framework which, as Gabriel Rufián often says, "can no longer be ignored." How are the country's various political options tackling this?

1. Junts would like for Miriam Nogueras the same starring role she has had until now, but the polls do not indicate that she is taking advantage of either the absence of AC, or the lukewarmness of Rufián. I would say these are not her elections. Facing such an intense polarization, and such an established fear-based vote, the traditional accidentalism of the convergents is harder to sell. Think about the silence and withdrawal of Carles Puigdemont: he knows that his moment is not now.
2. Respect for a small and young formation like Alhora, which insists on setting an alternative framework (blocking Spain and kicking the PSC out of everywhere), with very few possibilities of success, the wind against it and perhaps an excess of arrogance. The putaespanyisme helps a lot to vent with a thimble of ratafia or tequila, but perhaps this delusion, which is still in a pre-political phase, is better represented by La sotana.
3. I have less respect for Aliança Catalana, for the obvious reasons, but also because it has given away its electoral space. If for our sins a party like AC must exist, at least they could hurt Vox; but it seems that will not be the case. This indicates to us that the Catalan ultras are more ultra than Catalan, and are more afraid of the theoretical caliphate than of a granite and historically hostile reality such as Spain. Which can only be explained by racism. Here it is not about choosing which immigrant we like better, but about channeling the inevitable plurality of the country into a shared, that is to say political, framework, which will either be Catalan or will be Spanish. It is a foregone conclusion. Whoever speaks to you of the caliphate, or of saving the West, is distracting you from the goal.
4. As for ERC, Junqueras has swallowed the toad of Rufián because he knows it will bring him a good result, and because he has a unique opportunity to crush the Comuns. Sweeping away adversaries is an infallible way to grow. Later the contradictions will come, enormous ones; and we will joke about them, of course. But in the character there are interesting details: what Rufián stated in defense of the Catalan language, in Nou Barris, has nothing to do with his tendency to say what the masses want to hear. That said, physics does not lie: to widen the base, one must lower the center of gravity. ERC is trying to reach an agreement with the real Catalonia. We shall see at what price.

What I have said refers to one half of the country. The other half – the majority of voters for the PSC, the PP, and Vox – participates in the general debate in the Spanish state, which is basically the struggle between anti-Sanchismo and anti-fascism. The PSC is the best positioned to gather the useful vote in Catalonia, which will greatly harm the Comuns. But on election night, the press headlines will not speak of the PSC's result, but rather the PSOE's. If the campaign is favorable to him and the left finally adds up, Salvador Illa will breathe a sigh of relief. If not, he will become a kind of Asterix, the leader of the Gallic village who resists now and always against the invader... A costume that, frankly, does not suit him either by ideology or temperament.