It's one of the few certainties in Catalan politics: Alejandro Fernández is very likeable. I'll say more: he's a good speaker, knows how to combine firmness with a sense of humor, and has dared to disagree with his Madrid mentors, which in his party is a risky sport. For all these reasons, Fernández is highly regarded in the Catalan press, and I'm not going to say he hasn't earned it.
The thing is, Fernández is the leader of the People's Party (PP) in Catalonia. And this is no minor detail. It doesn't diminish his sympathy, but it can't be ignored either. Especially because he's ideologically strong. Fernández is an admirer of Isabel Díaz Ayuso and a declared friend of Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo, who wrote the prologue to his new book. They both shared the theory that the independence movement, through the CDRs (Republican Workers' Committees), was progressively shifting toward terrorism. And they loudly proclaimed this to influence the judges at a time when hundreds of people were awaiting trial.
Fernández believes that Jordi Cuixart went to prison for the same reasons as Antonio Tejero. He believes that Catalan sovereigntists are supremacists by definition, and that they hate those who—like him—are children of Spaniards; but when it comes to the children of Moroccans or Pakistanis, his opinions don't differ much from those of Vox. His idea of Spanishness is based on somewhat stale criteria, to put it mildly. He accused Quim Torra of being a supermacist, but later told him that he is a "Spanish": "He looks more like me than a Norwegian pole vaulter."he said. The entire Parliament, and the entire press, laughed at the joke, but the substance of the argument is somewhat disturbing.
The current leader of the Catalan People's Party (PP) is a hardliner and suspects Feijóo has a complex. He believes the PP, while in power, wasn't tough enough on Catalonia. "Not enough was done to enforce the law. When we return to power, this can't happen." He doesn't want to hear about dialogue with Junts. He prefers agreements with Vox "a thousand times over," because the current majority around the PSOE is "a threat to democracy."
Some of these statements are part of the essay In underwear off, A very traditional title for a text that has appeared, of course, only in Spanish. The book has fallen like a "bomb" in Genoa, because it is not usual for them to men PP's territorial representatives, who are normally handpicked from Madrid, express their criticisms with such ease. Bravo to Alejandro Fernández! The same press that finds him sympathetic now considers him a victim of Genoa centralism. Perhaps they forget that Fernández applauded when Casado imposed a fanatic like Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo as the head of the list for Barcelona. In fact, this centripetal authoritarianism is what Fernández desires for relations between Catalonia and Spain: autonomy, yes, but supervised and obedient. Should we believe that Fernández wants for the Catalan PP what he rejects for Catalonia? I doubt it.
And, by the way, Fernández's list of criticisms of his party includes neither Gürtel nor Bárcenas, nor political espionage, nor the manipulation of the judiciary, nor the dirty tricks of Sánchez-Camacho and Fernández Díaz, nor Cospedal's dealings with Villarejo, nor the repression of the 20th anniversary. He raises no objections or complaints about any of this.
It's all very well that, for the sake of parliamentary courtesy, the independence supporters acknowledge their sympathy for Alejandro Fernández. But they shouldn't forget that, if it were up to him, Puigdemont would never return to Catalonia, the Catalan independence prisoners would remain locked up, and there would probably be a bunch of nuts.
