Feijóo's plan for Catalonia

Barcelona"Any party official must know that they are nobody without their party, and the duties are very clear: more mayors, councilors and deputies." This phrase from the state leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, did not go unnoticed at the Catalan PP congress last week that re-elected Alejandro Fernández as president of the formation in the Principality. It was a message to Fernández to make it clear that after yielding in all his organizational plan for the party, the trust had to be rewarded with results and internal efficiency. The leader of the Catalan populars has in his hands the growth of a Catalan PP that will serve as a springboard for Feijóo to reach Moncloa. However, what is the state leader's plan for Catalonia? How does he intend to seduce the Catalan electorate?

One of the party's goals is to reach twelve seats in Catalonia in the next Spanish elections. It is the figure that precisely led José María Aznar to achieve an absolute majority in 2000 —currently the Catalan populars have half that in Congress—. In Parliament, they would like to reach 20 seats, five more than now and which would surpass the record of 19 deputies. The twelve national seats are a "mission impossible," according to multiple sources consulted, and more so with Vox, but "the important thing is to get into government," they add. However, some see it possible to reach 20 deputies in Parliament considering current polls, which give them 14-15 seats. The formula involves uniting center-right constitutionalism, chipping away at the PSC, and appealing to as many moderate voters as possible who had voted for CiU and the PP.

The Catalan conflict

Feijóo's plan to try to seduce the electorate that fled the PP in 2017 —when the party was left with 4 deputies in Parliament— involves, precisely, "turning the page" on the Process, as the state leader himself said during the Catalan popular congress last week, and starting a new era – with a rhetorical approach to Junts, although pacts with separatists generate division–. How does this translate? Feijóo's offer is to maintain the status quo autonomic and combine it with a boost in infrastructure investment, one of the issues that has been at the center of the debate in recent months due to the Rodalies chaos and which, precisely, has targeted the disinvestment of the PP's state governments. The popular leader, moreover, wants to put his "}liberal economic proposal to start a political cycle with a pragmatic approach to issues affecting citizens, according to sources consulted from the PP.

Feijóo boasts about his plan and the fact that he visits "at least once a month" — in 2024 he was even there for 20 days—. "Feijóo's danger for not being president is Catalonia; his bet is Catalonia," popular sources make clear. What happens is that the conviction that "the Process is over" and that a new cycle must be opened is not seen the same way by Alejandro Fernández and the new parliamentary spokesperson, Lorena Roldán, who insisted this week with a strong speech that "the Process has not died", and brought out the own artillery of 2017 against independence. "The speech is marked by Genoa", some Catalan leaders warn, referring to these differences. However, there is a popular voice that recalls that it has precisely been the controversial book by Alejandro Fernández – with which resumed the war on Feijóo– which helped him to consolidate himself politically with the message of "not to negotiate with nationalisms".

Feijóo's plan to take root in Catalonia will be put to the test in the next state elections – where Fernández must help the popular leader achieve his objectives – and, above all, in the municipal and parliamentary elections, which will be decisive. Sources consulted report that "there are no excuses now, results are needed".

Pollen

And for these results to arrive, coordination between Génova and the Catalan PP will be key. A week after the congress of the Catalan populars, there are some conservative figures who did not expect the state leadership to "give everything" to Alejandro Fernández, even though the popular leader had been working on it for weeks. The margin granted to the Tarragona leader "has nothing to do" with the list for the Parliament, where only Roldán is an alejandrista. After the "tailor-made" congress, some figures emphasize that "Feijóo has realized that he needs him to revive the party," after "in 2022 Tellado preached that Alejandro was finished" and a replacement was being sought for him.

A paradigmatic element of the internal chaos that the party in Catalonia dragged during the previous term is the steering committee, the highest body in the Principality, which never met, despite the fact that press conferences have been held at headquarters in the last two years without a prior meeting. "Did the steering committee exist?", one figure even asks. Last Monday, however, the leadership met to inaugurate the new era. In response to questions from this newspaper, the general secretary, Juan Fernández, made a promise: "The idea is that this periodicity can be weekly or bi-weekly". However, several sources already doubt that these meetings will continue.

Sources consulted highlight that "the organization has been greatly strengthened" to move "from resistance mode to alternative mode" and that "territory can be covered" basically with people close to Fernández. The important tandem is that of the deputy secretaries of organization, the alejandrista Alfredo Bergua – councilor from Sant Cugat – and David Solé – the only one close to the mayor of Castelldefels, Manu Reyes, of whom he is deputy mayor. "Alejandro's change implies that he can do whatever he wants in exchange for results, but if he doesn't get 20 deputies, he will fail," warn other sources. "If Feijóo governs and Alejandro does not obtain the expected results, things will change quickly," they warn, regarding eventual changes. On the other hand, MEP Dolors Montserrat is "inactive" within the Catalan PP, according to consulted sources, focusing only on Europe, although her former advisor and current Catalan deputy Hugo Manchón has risen to the Catalan leadership and has good internal consideration.

The current peace had not been seen for a long time, but it will have to be consolidated. This week Alejandro Fernández's absence to Parliament to open a summer university course has baffled several popular figures.