The Catalan hangover
How far removed this new year feels from the fever of 2017, when Catalonia was experiencing one of those rare moments when it can seem—and when some even come to believe it—that anything is possible, although deep down everyone knows it won't be. As happens in these cases where narratives take precedence over reality, when the crash comes, there is a retreat, the result of seeing the emergence of evidence that seemed surmountable but is far from it. Immediately comes the return to discretion, the frustration of realizing that expectations had been created that were beyond reach. Catalan society is now in a phase of keeping its feet on the ground. More than out of disillusionment, it's due to the realization of a certain naiveté.
That October seems so long ago. Where are we now? In a phase of stability without any clear characteristics. President Isla has emerged as the right person in this time of restraint: a style without stridency, avoiding confrontation, and commanding, with a measured voice and a restrained gaze, a governance that champions a low profile, while others prolong the aftermath. Without conflict, the PP has little prominence: its marginal status in Catalonia only allows it to surface in moments of turmoil to act as a witness to a challenged Spain. In line with the European right, it seeks in the demonization of immigration a space to gain visibility and compete with Vox and Aliança Catalana. Albiol has demonstrated in Badalona their simplistic view of respect for human dignity. us and the others, which has done so much damage to humanity.
Junts, which aimed to play a central role in Catalan society during the 2017 episode, is now struggling to find a way to stabilize itself as the Catalan right in this new phase. The image of Puigdemont in the distance—prolonging the fabrication of exile—says it all: Junts will not face reality until the former president returns and makes way for the Catalan right to resume its path. They cling to the icon of a moment that is now only a memory. Eager to be seen, they occasionally stage dramatic moves in the Spanish Parliament so that we don't forget them, but without a defined roadmap.
ERC is the one that most resembles itself, with Junqueras and Rufián as authoritative figures, who can provide calm but at the same time convey a clear difficulty in renewing themselves. It is undeniable that the skill of its two leaders allows them to maintain the necessary combinations at each moment, without any jarring notes.
Commons and company are increasingly disappearing and bring up here the same question as all the left-wing left in Europe: how to find space at a time when the left is fading, when socialists are finding it increasingly difficult to establish a strong ideological profile, and when what lies beside them is getting lost in minor leaderships?
As throughout Europe, here it is now the extreme right that is managing to resurface with its reactionary fury, presenting democracy as the cause of citizens' discontent. The traditional parties, both right and left, too withered, are finding it increasingly difficult to combat them.
In other words, Catalonia begins the year with a panorama quite similar to the rest of Europe, but with a restrained approach, as if no one has quite found the precise point the moment demands. What will emerge from this phase when some catalyst for revival is triggered? That is the question. Sometimes it seems as if the parties' agendas are dictated more by what they do in Madrid than by what they do here. Especially since Junts has been using the Spanish Parliament to signal an anticipated strategic shift and flirting with the Spanish right as if to reaffirm its conservative roots, particularly on economic matters. Junts is in a script rehearsal phase: establishing a profile that, while having sufficient foundation, sometimes appears contradictory in its attempt to reconcile the rightward shift with the nationalist program, currently relegated to the background. The PSC has made pragmatism a virtue and will evaluate its management, which is always a risk. And even more so in times of uncertainty.
Who will break through this ceiling of restrained profiles that currently prevails? Isla has management as his main asset to continue making his presence felt, but it seems that the left, at a time when the increasingly radical right is setting the pace across Europe, should contribute something more. Together, on the other hand, needs to complete the Puigdemont cycleto free themselves and see how they could reclaim the space that made them influential, unless they are content to embrace the ideological radicalization of the European right. It is the sordid chronicle of a year still reeling from an episode that has left a lasting burden and that now seems to want to be forgotten.
