Rufián ignites Junts-ERC relationship

Madrid / BarcelonaGabriel Rufián directly addresses the Junts deputies and shows them a 50 euro bill: "This is your flag, the one you share with the PP and Vox". And, afterwards, he lists one by one the parliamentarians who vote against the rental extension and goes up to the seats where Míriam Nogueras and the rest of the group sit to give them a dossier full of tweets against the political position of Carles Puigdemont's party. "I've removed the insults," he warns. In this way, the spokesperson for Esquerra in Congress defended the yes to the decree for the rental extension and attacked the Junts members for their opposition on Tuesday in the Spanish chamber. A staging that has ignited the relationship between the Republicans and Carles Puigdemont's party, but which, according to various sources consulted by ARA, has also not pleased some ERC leaders in Barcelona and Madrid who are wary of Rufián's methods: they criticize Junts' position on housing —they speak of "abominable"—, but they do not like the spokesperson's way of acting in Congress. In fact, not all Esquerra deputies applauded after his speech on Tuesday. Officially, the Republican leadership avoids making any comment.

The vote on Tuesday has loomed over Thursday's session in Congress. It was deputy Pilar Calvo (JxCat), within the framework of the intervention on the right to abortion, who wanted to refer explicitly to the events. "Some have turned this podium into an execution squad. On Tuesday they gave us an "A por ellos" in the Vox style. They pointed us out in Spanish because I suppose Catalans were not their target audience," she said, referring to Rufián's intervention. And she added: "Disagreement with the policies they want to impose on us should not question our moral integrity or lead to us being singled out in ways that can have consequences," she said, while recalling that this Wednesday, Junts deputy Marta Madrenas, who intervened against the rent extension, was "pursued by a man in the street who ended up spitting on her."

Calvo's words have not changed Rufián's position one millimeter. This very Thursday he retweeted a message on X that once again cited Junts deputies one by one who have opposed the extension of rent and, upon leaving the hemicycle, he made the following statements to the media: "The tension is held by those who cannot pay rent. Three million people who are screwed by what Junts has voted for are very tense. But it is very bad to heckle people on the street, I say from personal experience. I am not afraid of them, nor of their digital media, journalists, and opinion makers," he said. "I am on the fifth year of Junts' campaign," he concluded. ERC parliamentarians in Madrid also rally behind him in this regard and attack Junts "to play the victim." Joan Tardà defended him on X: "Chapeau, Gabriel Rufián".

indicated that he was sweeping among left-wing voters.

Puigdemont's LetterEl País and Cadena SER indicated that he was sweeping among left-wing voters.

Puigdemont's Letter

Beyond the debate in the plenary session, social media has also continued to boil. Former President Carles Puigdemont has published an article on Tuesday's parliamentary debate, in which he believes that "all red lines were crossed". "By doing so, the memory of a historic party in which some of the best men that Catalan politics has produced in the last century have been members was tarnished," he indicated. In his opinion, Rufián's methods are "typical of the worst of Spanish politics": "We can have disagreements, however profound, but until now Catalans knew how to express them with our own, differentiated way of acting and speaking, which marked an identifiable style".

The former president accuses Rufián of inheriting the ways of Ciudadanos and criticizes ERC's use of "pseudo-media" on social networks. "We do not pay mariachis, Nogueras has the following property: 33.3% of three garages and 16.6% of an apartment due to inheritance, in addition to an Opel Mocca.

For nothing", they often recall that they used to say and that it caused them problems on social networks within the independence movement.

The other controversy that has erupted and which Nogueras has assured has been reported to the Mossos for being a "disinformation campaign" is a tweet that stated that the leader of Junts in Madrid owned apartments and received 4,200 euros per month in rent. According to the declaration of assets of the Congress, Nogueras has the following property: 33.3% of three garages and 16.6% of an apartment due to inheritance, in addition to an Opel Mocca.

Voters' opinion

Junts in Madrid has maintained a belligerent stance against the rent price intervention policies of the PSOE, Sumar, ERC, and Podemos. They have positioned themselves in defense of "small property owners" and advocate for measures such as tax deductions on mortgages and rents. This stance is in tune with the composition of their electorate: according to a CEO survey from July 2025, only 12.9% of those who express sympathy for Junts declare that they live in rented accommodation. 42.2% say they already own their home outright, and 22.2% say they are paying for it through a mortgage, while 19.2% say they live in an apartment owned by family members. In this regard, it is the party with the fewest tenants, in contrast to Vox, which is the party whose sympathizers live most in rented accommodation (30.2%) and declare not to live in owned property (only 10.6% say they own their home outright and 21.7% are paying for it through a mortgage). Paradoxically, both maintained the same position on the rent extension: they voted against it along with the PP.