Illa, for the Diada: "In our home, hate has no place"

BarcelonaSalvador Illa has once again launched a message against xenophobic rhetoric and the political polarization that stems from it. In the institutional message for the National Day, the president of the Generalitat has once again reclaimed a "united" Catalonia, especially in the face of the rise of the far-right – both Vox and Aliança Catalana – and has warned that "in our home, there is no room for hate." Thus, the socialist president has called to "continue being one single people" and to maintain the "admirable capacity" to make people arriving from Andalusia, Extremadura, Morocco, and Colombia feel like "full-fledged Catalans." "No one is more Catalan than anyone else. We are all Catalonia," insisted Illa, in an institutional message from the Palau de la Generalitat.

The president of the Generalitat focused much of his speech on defending the "diversity" and "wealth" of the country and, just a few hours after the disturbances at the Fossar de les Moreres due to the presence of Aliança Catalana, remarked that Catalonia "cannot allow anything or anyone to endanger the coexistence of the country." "We have set out to become the best place in Europe to live, coexist, study, work, invest, create, undertake, love, and dream. The Diada is an invitation to do it together," noted Illa. He also asked not to give up and not to be dragged along by "pessimistic and conformist" discourses, and he opted to maintain the "feeling of belonging, fraternal and human" that he believes "guides" Catalans to safeguard "coexistence and the common good."

The PSC leader once again recalled the legacy of former president Josep Tarradellas and his role in the Transition, also for what he considers it meant for the State as a whole. Thus, Illa cited the speech that the former republican leader gave when he arrived in Catalonia in 1977, in which he asserted that Catalans must be "the vanguard of well-being, prosperity, and democracy for all the peoples of Spain." In this Thursday night's speech, the president of the Generalitat was inspired by Tarradellas' words from the balcony of the Palau de la Generalitat and assured that "Catalonia must be the vanguard for the rest of the countries of Europe and the world."

The socialist leader, who gave the speech accompanied by the biography by Joan Esculies Tarradellas, a certain idea of Catalonia, has also returned to reclaim the "unity" of the first demonstration of the Transition on an 11th of September, in 1976 in Sant Boi de Llobregat, and has made a call to "follow the invisible thread that unites the past and the present" of our home to "renew trust in the country and in the institutions".

In this sense, the president of the Generalitat has stressed that Catalans need to "act with the same unity of country" that they know how to "achieve when necessary," and transfer it to crucial areas. In fact, he has assured that the citizens of Catalonia "for too long have not received either the resources or the priority" that the Government now claims it is "determined to resolve" in areas such as education, infrastructure, housing, or with a new financing model. "If everyone limits themselves to their own interest, Catalonia loses. If we all think and act for the country as a whole, Catalonia wins," he concluded.

"Do not look at one's own navel"

The President of the Generalitat also took the opportunity to boast about his trip to Ukraine, in which he met with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and urged Catalans "not to navel-gaze," but "quite the opposite." "Let us lift our gaze," he requested. Thus, Illa advocated for "becoming aware of the transcendental moment that the world is living through" and facing and engaging with conviction "in global challenges," such as Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the emergence of artificial intelligence. "Immense challenges, without a doubt. But Catalonia is preparing well and with ambition to face them with solvency," he said. Mind you, the socialist leader pointed out that, first, it is necessary to be clear about "the place where Catalonia must be situated," which is "on the side of peace and the foundational values of the European Union".