"Alejandro Fernández's book is a bombshell": discontent in the Catalan People's Party and Genoa
The Catalan leader has written a book that addresses the conception of power and internal dynamics that have caused a shake-up
Barcelona"It's been a bombshell"; "there's anger and discontent." Alejandro Fernández's book, in which he resumes the war with the state PP commanded by Alberto Núñez Feijóo, It hasn't left anyone indifferent within the party. Sources within the conservative party explain that the more moderate sector, or those who simply align themselves with Feijóo, not only feels uncomfortable with the essay published this week, but also violated because it represents the reopening of wounds that never fully healed. And, of course, because it's a test of the leadership of the more hardline sector. In the book, Fernández criticizes Madrid's "tutelage" and the "shredder" of Catalan leadership. He, in fact, has been on the ropes on several occasions since becoming president of the PP in Catalonia in 2018.
The discomfort has reached the national PP headquarters on Génova Street in Madrid, and it is impossible to hide it, although they insist on emphasizing that at the moment they are "a little more focused on Trump than on Alejandro." No internal movement is foreseen for now to remove Fernández, who in the interview tour he is giving to promote the book has opted for a less belligerent tone than the one he has used in writing (his entourage even explains that in the book he limits himself to making a "historical reflection" on the party).
"He wants to do battle with Feijóo with the hardest-line sectors," lament some PP sources critical of this movement. It is, in fact, Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo who writes the prologue. "There are people who work to win elections and others who work for their survival," lament other sources, referring to the Catalan PP leader. There are also sources who do not fully understand why he is publishing this book now, beyond noting that the tension in the atmosphere could be cut with a knife. While relations have always been difficult, the good electoral result in Catalonia last year had pacified things.
Within the PP, Fernández isn't as well-supported as he would like. In fact, several of the leading figures in Catalonia and the vast majority of the parliamentary group aren't from his core group—except for Lorena Roldán. He has always preferred to boast about the support of the rank and file rather than the leaders. Precisely, one of the criticisms of the politician's essay is how the electoral lists are drawn up, always from Madrid.
In the spotlight
Despite the unrest, however, no one has been willing to comment publicly. In a press conference at the Parliament, the PP spokesperson in the chamber, Juan Fernández, refused to comment on the book on Thursday: "We must have time to read it; it will surely be very interesting, and I don't think this is the day to comment on it. [...] There will be plenty of time," he simply responded.
Beyond the "historical reflection" that Fernández's entourage says he is trying to make, the book also recounts internal plots that point to Catalan and state leaders without naming them, and one specific person: Irene Pardo, who accused her ex-partner, Albert Fernández, of abuse, ended up absolving him because the judge considered there was insufficient evidence. Pardo is a councilor in Sant Adrià de Besòs and president of New Generations of Catalonia, the youth wing of the Popular Party.
