Ferran Torres and the "ruin" of the Catalan Countries

Prada of ConflentThe Catalan Countries have a "ruin" which is Spain, or its dependence, if we adhere to the thesis of Quim Torra (2018-2020), Josep Lluís Albinyana (1978-1979) and Cristòfol Soler (1995-1996), former presidents of Catalonia, the Valencian Country and the Balearic Islands, respectively. Soler and Albinyana were the ones who lasted the least in office in each territory (Torra, the second shortest) and all three ended up quarreling with their parties, Junts, the PSPV and the PP, even though their firm independence has been displayed again this Thursday at the Catalan Summer University in Prada.

Albinyana, who defended the four-striped flag, the unity of the language and the name of Valencian Country instead of the invention of Valencian Community, has stated at the nationalist roundtable that "Spain is a failed state", due to, he said, the centralism of a false homeland to hide a colonialist system of submission to the central power. He recalled the "turbo-vacuum cleaner of all State resources", Madrid, and how "anti-Catalanism has been a shot in the foot" to follow Madrid's lead. "This Valencian Country walks between confusion and ruin", he said, and lamented what has been done to culture and language. However, beyond the linguistic persecution fueled by blaverism and the role of the PP and PSOE in this crusade that has caused impoverishment, in his opinion, there is something about the Catalan Countries that grates and that he has not been able to hide.

While personalities like Pep Guardiola have been referents of Catalan sovereignty, he has put forward the Valencian case as a counterpoint: "I don't think Ferran Torres will do the same as Guardiola at PSG". In fact, Torres proudly displays the Spanish flag and even a Trumpist cap. Be that as it may, he has reaffirmed "the impossibility of change in Spain", an idea that Torra and Soler have also defended. In the Balearic case, he added that they are their colonies that keep them "strangled". "They take our money, all we have to do is leave", he concluded.

But it was Torra who hammered the nail home and once again minimized the weight of self-government achieved during the Transition and expanded in successive Catalan governments. "We do not have the powers or resources for climate change, the country is living in collapse," he said, before mentioning that, effectively, Catalonia has no powers in anything. He believes that "the real problem of Catalonia is sovereignty," and this extends to everything, such as immigration. This means that anything can be debated, but that, ultimately, there are no solutions for anything, according to his criteria. An argument that he had already defended even as president of the Generalitat.

From the Maghreb to the change of leadership

But immigration continues to knock on the door. "When I see a sub-Saharan speaking Catalan, I get emotional," said Albinyana. This is the way, that of integration, in his opinion. And the problem is Madrid, as he showed with a family anecdote: "My nephew is going to Shanghai for a master's degree; it's a good thing he's not going to Madrid".

Soler insisted on the fiscal deficit, in the Balearic case, of 7,000 million euros –"They're taking our money"–, and highlighted the problem of tourism as a symptom of collapse, in addition to the "black" government of the PP of José Ramón Bauzá, which waged its particular crusade against Catalan in all areas. "I was a Christian Democrat, but if there were a hell, it would be the Spanish government, because they want to eliminate us as a people and as a language. And it's been going on for 300 years," he concluded. A different discourse from Torra's, who, although he says he doesn't want to give lectures on politics and only wants to give lectures on language, has once again verbalized his particular recipe: "We must change leadership when you stop being credible. Those of us who were not able to achieve it [independence] should not be the best people to propose it to," he concluded.

He also had the opportunity to call for the federation of the Catalan Countries in the centers abroad, where there are separate Catalan, Balearic, and Valencian ones, although he also encounters the Ferran Torres effect and the reality of PP governments with the support of Vox in these territories.