Chaos on the commuter rail system surrounds Isla: the opposition demands explanations.

BarcelonaThe chaos in the commuter train system has become the government's main headache. Two images illustrate this: the apologies from the president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, himself. had to order from Perpignan Faced with the images of citizens walking on the tracks, and the fact that this Wednesday's plenary session of the Parliament was monopolized by this issue, the opposition has demanded explanations and solutions from the Government in the face of a situation it considers unsustainable. Junts had requested the appearance of Salvador Illa for this morning with an alteration to the plenary agenda, but the head of the Executive has decided to accept the request made by ERC, Comuns, and CUP to appear in a dedicated plenary session that already has a date: March 25. In fact, Junts' request has only received the support of the PP, Vox, and Aliança Catalana - which have been the only groups that have not asked about the commuter rail system in their control session with the president.

"He says that we have to show our faces and he doesn't do it, when he could have done it today." motu proprio", reproached the leader of Junts in the Parliament, Albert Batet, who added: "He lives permanently hidden behind the false propaganda of normality. More than the Government of the whole world, it is the Government that makes everyone late." "We may have many defects, but hiding, no," replied the president of the Generalitat. _SLT_LNA~ The president has signed up to the thesis that in recent days the Minister of Territory, Sílvia Paneque, has verbalized: that part of the problem of Cercanías is due to having neglected this service while Junts was in the executive. "Of the last fifteen years, twelve [of the Department of Territory] have been in the hands of leaders from their political party," Illa stated. Before that, Batet criticized him for the fact that the Socialists had been in charge of Cercanías "for the last seven years," with Isaías Taboas and Raül Blanco as presidents of Renfe.

"Governing for everyone means assuming leadership and responsibilities, not centrifuging responsibilities in previous governments, when it is the Socialists who have had responsibilities in the State," added the president of ERC in the Parliament, Josep Maria Jové. "I don't centrifuge any responsibility, I assume what I have," Isla responded. Jové demanded a "change of direction" from the Government and that the Generalitat take "the reins" of Cercanías if the Spanish government "is incapable" of resolving this issue. "The commuter train system has a lot of room for improvement; investments are being made," Illa stated, adding that the pace of investment cannot be "higher" if we want to "keep the network running."

Isla's appearance on March 25

Why didn't ERC, the Comuns (Communist Party), and the CUP (Cup) support Junts' proposal for Illa to appear in Parliament this Wednesday? The three groups had requested a dedicated plenary session on commuter rail—to be held on March 25—because they believe specific resolution proposals could be presented there that would define the path to resolving the railway chaos. Furthermore, the three groups pointed out that Junts' request gave Isla 30 days to appear and that it didn't oblige him to do so today.

However, CUP MP Dani Cornellà did criticize the president of the Generalitat for not appearing this Wednesday at his own request and used his speech to call for the resignation of Minister Paneque—who will appear in Parliament's committee next week. The leader of the Commons in the Parliament, Jéssica Albiach, for her part, called on the government to put "all its resources" into resolving the commuter rail problem and asked it not to distribute them "with distractions" such as the expansion of El Prat airport. "Catalonia doesn't need more planes, but rather trains that work," she asserted. "We're not mixing apples and oranges. We're currently working on commuter rail. And perhaps if we don't invest in other areas of transport, we'll find ourselves with similar problems in a few years," Illa replied.

The tension is spreading to Congress.

The controversy over the chaos in the commuter trains has also spread to Congress and has caused a confrontation between Junts and ERC, reports Andrea ZamoranoIn a question during the control session, Junta deputy Isidre Gavín accused the Republicans of being "complicit." Gabriel Rufián responded by calling him "miserable" and a "liar." "He's been driving official cars for 30 years and has taken very few commuter trains," the ERC spokesperson said in the corridors of the lower house. Gavín had previously denounced ERC's "invaluable help" in enabling Renfe to continue operating commuter trains. Transport Minister Óscar Puente, whom Gavín had questioned in the plenary session, accused him of "demagoguery" and disassociated the recent problems from a lack of investment. In fact, the minister argued that it's rather "the opposite": if incidents are occurring on the network, in his opinion, it is due to the volume of ongoing investments in the Catalan rail network, which are difficult to "make compatible" with the normal provision of the service. This is a thesis also defended by the Government, which places a two-year timeframe on the work horizon that should already allow for improvements in the system.