Together they decide to break with the PSOE: "They may have power, but they won't be able to govern."

Perpignan / BarcelonaTogether for Catalonia (Junts) is "breaking" the pact with the PSOE. This was decided unanimously this Monday by the executive committee of the regional government at the proposal of former president Carles Puigdemont, who—as reported by ARA—spoke at the beginning of the meeting to defend ending the agreement with the Socialists. The Junts leader believes that the pact with the PSOE has not been sufficiently fulfilled two years after Pedro Sánchez was sworn in, and that it must be made clear that the Spanish prime minister does not have a majority in Congress to govern. The entire Junts leadership unanimously endorsed the proposal, which will be ratified by the membership in a referendum on Wednesday and Thursday.

The former president was responsible for defending the decision publicly in an appearance in Perpignan, without taking questions from the media. He spoke before the members of the Junts executive committee, who applauded the party leader at the end of his speech. Puigdemont accused the PSOE of acting "in disregard of its parliamentary weakness" and of ignoring the "warnings and signals" sent by Junts: "There is no political trust." "We will exercise opposition," warned the former president, who declared the pact "broken" but blamed the Socialists.

"The PSOE is ultimately responsible; it is he [Pedro Sánchez], not Junts, who holds all the levers of power," he declared. "We have no vocation to bring stability to Spain. If things go well for Catalonia, let's talk, otherwise, goodbye," the Junts leader added. He concluded by addressing the PSOE and Pedro Sánchez: "He may have armchairs, but he won't be able to govern. He may have power, but he won't be able to govern." He added that the Socialists must now answer how they intend to continue leading Spain if they don't have a majority in Congress. The former president has already made it clear that he will not negotiate the 2026 state budget and that they can no longer count on them to implement his legislative agenda. However, he also avoided calling for immediate elections or flirting with a vote of no confidence with the PP and Vox. In his opinion, Sánchez now has the ball in his court; Junts is ignoring the governability of Spain.

What does "breaking up" mean?

Now, what will this mean for the day-to-day operations of the PSOE-Sumar coalition? Sources within the party assure us that there will be no negotiations of any kind with the Spanish government: neither in the Swiss forum with international mediator Francisco Galindo—they have already informed him of this—nor in the halls of Congress. Junts are clear: the Spanish government will learn what Junts will vote for through the screen in the Spanish chamber, they say.

"Whatever is good for Catalonia, we will vote for it; whatever isn't, we won't," the sources say, although they believe there won't be many initiatives that benefit the interests of Catalans and that, therefore, they will mostly be in the opposition. However, there may be matters of "common sense" that they may vote for: such as the initiative this week in Congress to increase fines for those who park in spaces reserved for people with disabilities.

Within the executive meeting in Perpignan, according to multiple members consulted by this newspaper, the majority of the leadership, as well as the party's permanent leadership yesterday, Sunday, confirmed that the relationship with the Socialists was going to change and that the negotiation they made after the 2023 Spanish elections had not yielded the expected results.

In his appearance, Puigdemont listed the breaches, which range—Junts notes—from the official status of Catalan in the European Union to the delegation of immigration powers, including the non-application of the amnesty and also the fact that there has been no national recognition. Puigdemont also mentioned the fiscal balance data, and recalled that they cannot yet be calculated because the Spanish government has not published all the necessary data.

In response to this, some members of the Junts executive have even called for a no-confidence vote with the PP, although the leadership has rejected a vote of no confidence vote with the Popular Party (PP) and Vox to make Alberto Nuñez Feijóo president. A scenario that Puigdemont has not publicly addressed beyond criticizing the agreement between the Socialists and the Popular Party (PP) to make Jaume Collboni mayor and remove Xavier Trias in the last municipal elections.

The process from now on

Once the executive branch has reached an agreement, it will be debated by the extraordinary national council this Tuesday, and then, on Wednesday and Thursday, Junts members will speak out on the decision. It remains to be seen what specific question will be put on the table, but unlike what happened when Junts left the Catalan government due to disagreement with ERC, it will be a ratification vote. In other words, it won't be an open question—the executive branch has spoken clearly—and everything suggests that Junts members will support Puigdemont.

In recent hours, the PSOE had tried to retain the Junts members without success. One of the first moves, which had been brewing for weeks and which Puigdemont's party knew about, was the joint statement with Germany on Friday to open a dialogue with the Catalan officialdom; or a meeting to discuss the fiscal balance data, which was not satisfactory for Junts.

In recent hours, they have also addressed the progress of Puigdemont's appeal for protection against the non-application of the amnesty in the Constitutional Court, which is expected to rule before spring, but that has not convinced the former president either. Could the split with the PSOE harm Puigdemont's prospects for a return? The leader of Junts has publicly reproached the Socialists for not being on an equal footing in Catalonia with his political competitors. However, sources within the party do not fear that the split will hinder the end of his exile: they believe that if this were to go awry now, it would be proof that the Spanish government was politically exploiting the former president's situation.