BarcelonaWith the independence movement now behind us, politics in Catalonia has taken on a tone more about management than about advocacy. And yet, within this framework of normality that some might define as boring, things are happening in Catalonia that are more than relevant to Spain as a whole.
Starting with the fact that 25% of the population residing in Catalonia was born outside of Spain. This is a huge contribution and at the same time a challenge. Migrants are currently literally sustaining the economic and productive system, as well as the pensions of the elderly. However, no one can ignore the fact that Catalonia is currently the only place in Spain where two extreme right-wing parties—Vox and the Catalan Alliance (AC)—coexist, competing by fueling a logic of challenging the democratic system that focuses on racism and the dehumanization of migrants. While we still don't know what AC's results will be in the upcoming elections—and how Junts will relate to it—at least until then, the Catalan democratic forces as a whole have managed to marginalize the far right and prevent it from imposing its themes and frameworks on the entire political agenda. Hopefully, this trend can continue.
Moving on to policies: it's worth remembering that Catalonia is currently the only region that has implemented the rental price index for stressed areas, while both the Generalitat (Catalan government) and the most important municipalities have finally promoted ambitious programs for the construction and acquisition of social rental housing. Beyond self-serving and outdated narratives surrounding the housing market as an economic driver, there is sufficiently solid evidence that public intervention—through various instruments, including price regulation—is the right one. On the other hand, the commitment made by the Generalitat to maintain a redistributive fiscal policy that opposes the Ayuso-style fiscal dumping is also an important contribution, insofar as it visualizes and grounds the idea that the wealth of a society is measured according to the ability to exercise the rights of all citizens, not by becoming...
And we end with our attention on the international agenda: in July, the Catalan Parliament adopted a resolution on the situation in Palestine, calling for respect for international law and condemning "segregationist practices and collective punishment comparable to the apartheid regime," which "are obstacles." Resolutions are declarative documents and lack practical application. However, in the narrative battle over Gaza, Catalonia, through its most important institution, has decided to clearly position itself in favor of a narrative of the situation that puts human rights at the center.
In short, Catalan politics, although without "historic days," has decided to represent Spain politically in a different way, facing the great challenges of the moment. It has opted for solutions that are clearly far removed from the simplistic and involutionary responses that threaten our democratic systems: marginalizing the far right and its hate speech, defending basic rights and maintaining a redistributive logic, looking at the world through the lenses of human rights, the only ones through which we can see clearly. This is no small feat.
