"Catalonia is worse": the opposition attacks Salvador Illa's "subservience" one year after the investiture.

BarcelonaThis Friday marks one year since Salvador Illa was sworn in as president of the Generalitat, thanks to the agreements between the PSC, ERC and Comuns, on August 8th a year ago that was also marked by The brief reappearance in the Principality of former president and leader of Junts, Carles Puigdemont, who a few minutes later would escape from the police again to Belgium, where he is in exile awaiting the application of the amnesty. But these 365 days have not been at all pleasing to the opposition, who have taken advantage of the anniversary to take stock. The spokesperson for the regional government's parliamentary group in the Parliament, Mònica Sales, stated in a press conference from the chamber that "the country is worse," that "the government fails" due to its "poor management," and also denounced the president's "subservience to Madrid" without "raising his voice" for Catalonia, which would have led to a "collapse." A diagnosis partially shared by the PP, from their perspective. Their spokesperson in the chamber, Juan Fernández, agreed in denouncing the "subservience" to the Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez.

On the other hand, the government offered a "positive" assessment in a statement this Friday, highlighting its economic indicators—with growth above the European average—its housing policies, the strengthening of public services, and a 5.24% reduction in crime in the first half of this year. In its opinion, "Catalonia is back on track" with its "best version" and is committed to fulfilling the investiture agreements with the Republicans and the Commons. However, it sought to highlight the "Catalonia Leads" plan, which specifically includes the expansion of El Prat airport, despite the reluctance of Illa's partners, Esquerra (Republican Left), and the Commons.

The criticisms

Beyond that, Junts has denounced a "disarray in commuter trains" and in education, with thousands of applicants for vocational training left without a place. –although they have been reduced compared to last year–, but also "non-compliance" with the non-presentation of the Catalan budgets or with the singular financing, "which has ended up being generalizable" with thestart of part of the IRPF management in 2028It is in this context that Sales has established Junts as "the alternative to the Catalan government" and its "tripartite pact" with ERC and Comuns, a tripartite pact that the members of the Junts see as a legislative body, although party sources also affirm that "on issues of identity" an understanding is emerging with the PP and Vox because they agree to vote against several parliaments.

The Popular Party considers Isla to have been Sánchez's "lifeline," using the Generalitat as "a political instrument" at his service to "protect him from his parliamentary weakness" and from "corruption," especially in the Cerdán case. Hence, he has denounced the "bunkerization" with the Spanish president. In his case, however, he also criticized Isla's "nationalist" attitude, believing he has "broken" his promise to turn the page on the process. This is a view opposed to the regional government's members, who have lamented the "denationalization" that the head of the government allegedly led, especially linguistically. According to Sales, the government should be "a model" in the use of language, even more so in a time of "regression," but Puigdemont's party points to the use of Spanish in some plenary sessions, at events, and on social media by members of the government.

Illa's supporters, ERC, and Comuns also wished to assess this first year of the legislature. ERC spokesperson in Parliament, Ester Capella, stated in statements sent to the media that it has been a year of "improvable" management, "without a budget, with very fine words but few actions and specifics." Thus, she warned that the legislature "only makes sense if Catalonia takes a leap forward in its sovereignty" in terms of specific funding, commuter rail, or ending repression. These are challenges she has made a priority despite the current "uneven result." In any case, she regretted that the PSC (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) has "chosen to be the spokesperson for the PSOE and forget the country's interests."

For his part, the Commons spokesperson in the Parliament, David Cid, also concluded that "the Government needs to improve," that "it's heading into September" with pending tasks to accomplish and "two national challenges": housing and public transport, especially commuter and regional trains. "It fails in priorities. The priority shouldn't be the airport, it should be the train," he declared. However, he insisted that in order to negotiate the budget, "three promises must be kept": launching the inspectors' unit to ensure compliance with the approved housing regulations against seasonal rentals, the anti-eviction unit, and the creation of the registry of large property owners. Therefore, he has been summoned to an imminent monitoring committee to address this matter.

For his part, the secretary general of Vox, Ignacio Garriga, has assured that Illa is a "scam" in a publication on X in which he has said that the president "has further aggravated the crisis of insecurity and identity that Catalonia was suffering" and that he is "a disastrous manager".

Outside the chamber, the ANC also valued Isla's first year in office in a statement, lamenting that he "has not fulfilled" any of his commitments and that he "is only selling smoke". On the other hand, the Spanish-speaking Societat Civil Catalana believes that his victory was "a step forward after many years of separatist governments", but that it "is linked to the agenda of nationalism", and has criticized his "exclusionary" language policy and singular financing.

The fleeting reappearance of Puigdemont

For his part, Puigdemont spoke on X about his return and subsequent escape from Barcelona a year ago. "I would still be in prison today," he wrote, referring to if he had decided to stay. "I was aware of the enormous risk and the high probability that I would end up arrested and sent to Madrid to be imprisoned unconditionally," he said, explaining that he preferred to avoid arrest when he saw that he would be unable to access Salvador's investiture, something that was never part of my plans or intentions.

Sales also asserted that "the president fulfilled his commitment" to return on the day of his inauguration, "but also to not allow himself to be detained." He added that "what the president denounced a year ago is still valid today" because the justice system has not yet granted him amnesty, nor has it granted it to MP Lluís Puig or MEP Toni Comín, all of whom are in exile. This is the reason he clings to when he says that "Spain is not a state governed by the rule of law." This is not what the PP believes: Fernández emphasized that a "humiliation" occurred and that "Sánchez allowed Puigdemont to enter Spain and flee again to Waterloo." Therefore, he is committed to "the rule of law acting to discover the whole truth."