Junts takes on the pressure of the street united
The party "maintains the line" and ensures it has received many congratulations for not having yielded to the PSOE
BarcelonaDefinitely, Junts has marked its own profile in Congress in a week in which all eyes were on Carles Puigdemont's party. The pressure from the left had no effect and the 'juntaires' struck down the housing decrees, and contributed to an institutional crisis that threatens to lead the State to new elections. The balance sheet the party makes of this is positive: they are the only Catalan party –besides the PP and Vox delegations– that has distanced itself from the proposals of the Moncloa. In fact, 'juntaires' sources explain that they have not stopped receiving "congratulations" from small property owners, who had demanded they strike down the decrees (some of the letters were published by the party itself on social media).
Several sources from Carles Puigdemont's party put on the table that the key to it all was to continue with their own character. The party considers that it started from a dichotomy: to be with the small property owners and the Catalan middle class or with the demands of the left and the Tenants' Union, from whom they are positioned at the antipodes. The arguments of the 'juntaires' have been based on highlighting the "insecurity" caused by the decree; criticizing "not being tough enough against vulture funds", and on the fact that the prohibition of evictions should be accompanied by public spending to cover the rent.
Junts has not seen the possible early election that Pedro Sánchez is considering as an element of pressure. However, has the party calibrated the consequences of an election with the prevailing framework of housing, favorable to Sánchez? Initially, they defend that if Sánchez calls for elections now, they are "the only ones who differentiate themselves from the rest" and can represent a "central position". In the event of early elections in Spain, moreover, they know they would save themselves from the competition of Aliança Catalana, which threatens their votes in municipal and Catalan elections.
On housing, Junts has proposed its own royal decree-law in which it expresses its model of the country. Other consulted voices are even more forceful and conclude that elections do not "harm" Junts and add that for the PSOE it would denote "electoralism" –and not "interest in housing"–. However, there are also those who are more cautious in the face of the "complex" narrative battle that awaits them, especially when Junts' great moment, the return of Carles Puigdemont after nine years in exile, is about to take shape.
The debate in the executive
Although some tax incentive measures were included in the first royal decree, there are multiple points of friction with the socialists' text, such as in the extension of contracts or how the veto on vulture funds has been articulated, in addition to state responsibility in the eviction of vulnerable people. Of the multiple sources consulted, all highlight the unanimity that existed in the decisive debate of the national executive this Thursday against the two decrees. Beyond the core group of decisions, the party's different currents have also endorsed the strategy, even the left-wing one.
It was the party leader in Madrid, Miriam Nogueras, who spoke first, and she was immediately followed by the secretary general, Jordi Turull. The leadership, in fact, approved this position by total assent, according to the sources, and this ties in with the "coherence" exhibited on the matter in Congress. The arguments are based on several keys: "legal insecurity", the lack of resolution of the social problem, and the phenomenon of investment funds.
The ideological definition
The position of Junts is in line with the path the Nogueras group has been taking for the last three years. A position quite different from the one the party had defended during Quim Torra's mandate at the head of the Generalitat: in 2020, his executive chose to contain rental prices with caps. In fact, Carles Puigdemont had already supported the price index in 2017 during the 1-O government. These were "exceptional" contexts for the independence movement, with coalition governments, according to the sources. Now the ideological definition is clearer.
Many voices speak of the 2024 Calella congress as the key moment for this ideological realignment. However, there are also consulted sources who point out that having the key to governability in Madrid has helped to set the party's strategic course. In this process of redefinition, it is also necessary to remember that, as ARA reported, recently Junts joined the European Democratic Party, a centrist and pro-European social-liberal formation –which encompasses the center-right and the moderate center-left.
Sources from the Junts leadership recount that they felt "deceived" upon seeing the anti-eviction decree, after a negotiation they viewed as "failed" with "distorted" elements. However, they also point out that, seen in perspective, "the socialists wanted to play hard to eat up Sumar, ERC, and Podemos". Now one of the challenges is the struggle for the narrative that reaches the public, especially if Sánchez chooses to call elections.