The day Puigdemont returns

1. A prominent figure from Figueres, one of those who were friends with Dalí and Pla, explains to me in a single sentence how his city has changed in a decade. “You only find the people of Figueres from the old days in two places, the funeral home and the high-speed train station”. This exaggeration, which perhaps isn't so much, makes me think about what kind of Catalonia Carles Puigdemont will find, now that Llarena and Marchena will have to yield, after the ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union. No matter how much the Spanish judicial steamroller curses to delay his return, it is now only a matter of months before the president can return from his exile. Now that he will come to Catalonia to stay, and not with that fleeting vaudeville of two years ago, what will he find?

2. To the collapse of Rodalies, which has not improved in nine years despite promises of millions and improvements, is now added the fear of neighbors about the tunnel boring machines for public works. In Catalonia of the sinkholes, whether due to Adif's works or those of the Barcelona metro, no one knows where the ground might open up and swallow a building, a crane, or family tranquility. The explanations from those responsible, who never know why things have happened, do not help to give the population confidence. Puigdemont will find another unforeseen collapse, that of the AP-7. The motorway turned into a risk sport, due to the avalanche of traffic and the procession of trailers that consider themselves the kings of the asphalt, and perhaps they are. 

3. On October 1, 2017, there were 7.5 million people in Catalonia. According to Idescat, we are now 8.2 million. This means many more people taking the train, driving on the highway, accessing free healthcare, feeling less Catalan on the street, but, on the other hand, more children having to go to school. And the problem of classrooms has not been resolved. On the contrary. There is a lack of staff, a lack of investment, and, more importantly than all of this, a lack of clear criteria, a correct direction that knows where it is going, in the medium and long term. Instead of structural and national solutions that would last for two decades, there are patches and a handful of demands that do not stop. The 2026-27 academic year will begin – oh, surprise – with a strike on September 8. The Illa government is failing in the core issue, which is education. To top it all off, today councilor Esther Niubó will explain the PISA scandal. Without presenting a percentage for the exam that was representative of our students, the OECD has left Catalonia out of the study. It seems that the Government preferred not to have results rather than have bad results again. The terrible management was as incomprehensible as hiding it for months. Five minutes after explaining the shameful blunder in Parliament, it would be ethical for the councilor to resign. She will not.

4. In Parliament, by the way, the party that won the elections in 2017, Ciutadans, no longer has a single seat. At that time, there was a pro-sovereignty majority in Parliament, and Aliança Catalana did not yet exist. Far-right independence, with the slogan “Save Catalonia,” won two seats in Parliament in 2023. Polls now predict that they could be the second-largest force, behind the PSC and far ahead of Junts. In Girona, the mayor is from the CUP, the football team has been relegated to the Second Division, and Míchel speaks Dutch. Meanwhile, Barcelona has vibrated with the Football World Cup that Spain has won. Yes, with nine Catalan players who, in the long parade through Madrid, did not carry the senyera. I'm not even talking about the estelada, I'm talking about the simple flag of their autonomous community, as the Galicians, Canary Islanders, or Extremadurans have done without complexes. Details aside, welcome back to one of the best places in the world.