The limits of Catalonia

It has been months since Oriol Junqueras found in the population growth of Catalonia (from 6.2 million inhabitants in 2000 to 8.2 million currently, in just 25 years) an argument to debate what the demographic limits of our country should be so that public services, infrastructure, housing, natural resources, or the language are not irremediably overwhelmed. The debate is rational, even though in politics everything is emotional, and it is evident that the president of the Republicans has sought a way to establish a position of authority in the discourse on immigration that next year will change the face of the country's electoral map in favor of the far-right.

There is a limit to the country, which is the lack of all the political power that full sovereignty would entail, and even more so in a state that returns much less to us than we contribute to it. This would always be serious, but it is more so when in these 25 years the population of Catalonia has increased by more than 30%, well above Germany (1.7%), Italy (3.5%), France (13.8%), and the rest of Spain not considering Catalonia (19.9%). Nevertheless, states also have their limits, because the economy has been in charge for a long time now, more than politics.

However, there is another limit, which is that of our enthusiasm as a country. It will soon be 50 years since the first tolerated Diada after the Civil War, the one in Sant Boi. That Catalonia of 1976 did not have an iota of the political power that, despite the "cafè per a tothom" (everyone gets coffee), we have in 2026, but it overflowed with national ambition. This limit of will depends only on us, trying not to get trapped by real and induced discomforts. It seems that there is no longer room for collective illusion and collaboration because, in the name of the principle of reality, thinking big has become a sign of naivety. We must be able to overcome this limit.