Illa makes a call to emulate Tarradellas' "government for everyone" in the face of the rise of the far right

BarcelonaSalvador Illa has been mirroring himself in Josep Tarradellas since he arrived at the Generalitat. He is, surely, the Catalan political leader he has cited the most. Not because of his more pro-independence beginnings, but because of his role in the Transition and his ability to get a large part of the Catalan political spectrum to understand each other to configure Catalan autonomy. An obsession that the socialist leader has channeled into the inauguration of the events to commemorate the fifty years since the republican leader's return to Catalonia and his famous "Citizens of Catalonia, I am here" in October 1977.

The president of the Generalitat has claimed, above all, the "unity" he achieved between political forces as different as Esquerra Republicana, the UCD, the PSUC and, among others, Convergència, and has called for inspiration from Tarradellas's "government for everyone" –a motto that coincides with that of his executive– in the face of the current moment, marked above all by the rise of the extreme right. "Fifty years later, we are living in a moment of refoundation", warned the socialist leader, who urged "at least the Catalanist forces" to reach a greater understanding.

Illa, almost as if he were talking about himself, has underlined what he considers to be one of the main ideals that guided Tarradellas: squeezing the maximum out of Catalonia's autonomy as the highest national aspiration. "Responsibility and good governance", the socialist leader highlighted about the republican, which is also one of the current executive's mottos. In fact, Illa has assured that the PSC government's goal is to achieve the "maximum self-government possible" and use it with "responsibility and rigor". And, at this point, he took the opportunity to defend the new financing model.

But the PSC is not the only force that claims the figure of Tarradellas, from whom everyone takes the facet that suits them best. There were above all representatives of his political family, Esquerra, such as the deputy to the Congress Francesc-Marc Álvaro and the leader of the republican party himself, Oriol Junqueras. Junqueras has highlighted that, without "exaggerating much," he managed to preserve the "oldest government institution in Europe with the maximum possible dignity." "He served the country with all his strength and capabilities, and he excelled," remarked the president of Esquerra.

Also in attendance were former presidents Jordi Pujol –with whom Illa has met several times since he became president–, José Montilla, Artur Mas and Pere Aragonès; as well as the President of the Parliament, Josep Rull, and a good number of ministers. In his turn, Rull was the only one who lamented that the exile suffered by Tarradellas "is not a thing of the past" and he remembered his former executive colleagues, such as Carles Puigdemont. "It is very hard and stark, but it is also a source of legitimacy and inspiration," the Junts member noted.

Events throughout the country

The Tarradellas Year, of which historian Joan Esculies is the commissioner, aims to spread to the general public the figure of the president in exile and the first of the restoration of the Generalitat after the Franco dictatorship. With this objective, the Generalitat will inaugurate next February the exhibition at the Palau Robert Citizens of Catalonia. The return of Tarradellas and the thread of self-government, 1977 and 2027, and will adapt it later to exhibit it in different parts of the country. In addition, the Montserrat Tarradellas i Macià Archive will be promoted and a comic book aimed primarily at children about the figure of the republican president will be published.

The Generalitat also wants to vindicate Tarradellas' years in exile. The commemoration will include a conference at the Sorbonne University in Paris on the president's relationship with the French state, and an academic session in Toulouse and another in Perpignan to address the role of Northern Catalonia with the Catalan exile.

On the other hand, an event is to be held with the former presidents of the Generalitat to discuss the figure of Tarradellas, although attendance and the date are not yet confirmed, and a conference or debate in Madrid on how the return of the republican leader was interpreted in Spain. And, in a more academic sphere, the Democratic Memorial will promote a book that will feature the work of about fifteen historians that will analyze the reception of the arrival of Tarradellas and the re-establishment of the Generalitat.