Jaume Asens: "Many Comuns members who advocated voting for Collboni now regret it."

BarcelonaComuns MEP Jaume Asens (Barcelona, ​​​​1972) visits the ARA following the publication of his book The Unrecoverable Years.

The Unrecoverable Years What is a political autobiography?

— There's something about memories, about reckoning. I felt like a political and personal cycle had come to a close and that a balance was deserved.

And what is your assessment?

— There are vital and political moments that, when you look back, reveal the transformations in our society. Now, the political and cultural initiative is led by the far right and its most radical factions. And it's true that here I describe periods of struggle in which social movements occupied the center of the country, and especially Barcelona. They had a strength they lack now. What has happened to all this mobilized civil society when we have right next door, on the other side of the Mediterranean, a genocide being perpetrated live in Palestine?

In the book, he talks about the ties between leaders such as Ada Colau, Gerardo Pisarello, Pablo Iglesias, and Íñigo Errejón, who were activists but also friends.

— The question of whether or not power is compatible with friendship is one I've asked myself many times. Because friendship is a pure, noble sentiment. Power, on the other hand, involves musical chairs, egos, and relationships that can become toxic when envy and ambition arise. Politics tends to dissolve friendship more than strengthen it. We've seen this in Podemos, with two great friends like Iglesias and Errejón who become enemies.

Do you still consider yourself a friend of Pablo Iglesias?

— I consider him a friend. He's someone I admire. He's had a great ability to anticipate events and understand the political moment. The coalition government is the fruit of his tenacity.

He says that, upon arriving at Barcelona City Hall, lowering his salary was a "rookie mistake."

— We emerged after the 15-M movement. We came from a perception of widespread corruption and wanted to demonstrate that we weren't in politics to make money. But we erred on the side of ideological purity. Politics should be accessible to everyone, not just those with resources. In my case, as a lawyer and very established, I lost money. We did so also because we were negotiating with the CUP for joint lists.

In the book he reveals that Ada Colau was against voting for Jaume Collboni as mayor.

— In retrospect, many people [in Comunes] who advocated voting for Collboni now regret it. There isn't that much difference between Collboni and Trias. The PSC is trying to occupy a central position and replace the one that Trias and Convergència represented. In terms of the city, it's more questionable, but in terms of the party, it was a shot in the foot. The chances of winning the mayoralty again are higher if you have Trias as your antagonist rather than Collboni.

Should Colau run again for municipal elections?

— I would like Ada Colau to be a candidate again because we don't have anyone like her who can lead a moment like the one to come. But that's her decision, and right now she feels quite far from that option.

Does it help relations between ERC and Comunes that Elisenda Alamany is now ERC's general secretary?

— When you seek a fraternal relationship between political parties, you don't try to recruit people from that space. I think everyone can understand that it's difficult for someone who had been highly critical of Esquerra to move on to another party after a few months and criticize Comunes. It devalues politics and hinders understanding. Oriol Junqueras also tried to recruit me at the time.

If you had been told 10 years ago that there would be two far-right parties in Parliament, one pro-Espanyol and the other pro-independence, would you have believed it?

— Probably not. Many people thought Catalonia was immune to the far right, and the question is whether it was already buried before the Trial, or if it's a consequence of the Trial.

In the book he recounts that he spoke about the Catalan Alliance in a meeting with Jordi Pujol.

— He's worried because he feels his people are too focused on the Catalan Alliance and want to get closer. And he's very clear that the Alliance is a political danger.

Has your perception of Jordi Pujol changed?

— I would still defend the lawsuit I filed against him. But I was unaware of his human dimension. I'm from a generation that grew up with Pujol as a totem, against whom I mobilized. He's a very cultured person, Merkel recalls in some ways. If he's ultimately convicted, it would be absurd for him to go to prison at his age, from a humanitarian perspective.

As an MEP, you have to experience the clash with the United States and Trump's policies, which are undermining globalization, something you also spoke out against. Does this cause you conflict?

— It provokes many contradictions, as crises do. We are now at a time when it makes sense to rethink many aspects of the European project itself. People on the left are not, in principle, against tariffs, which are nothing more than taxes at the border. The question is where we place them. And, before rearming Europe, it is key to know why. Perhaps what we should do is strive for greater coordination between European militaries.

In the end, Trump is talking about punishing the rest of the world.

— Trump is a nationalist, chauvinist, authoritarian reaction to this crisis of neoliberalism. Europe is in a sandwich. We need to look at Africa and Latin America. I also think it's good to try to reach an understanding with China, but without forgetting human rights, which must be on the negotiating table.

Despite the title of the book, are you optimistic about the future?

— What I'm trying to do is defend hope, which isn't exactly the same as optimism. Especially for the younger generations, so that they don't fall into discouragement or pessimism, and so that they understand that the battle for a better world is one we can never give up.