Illa certifies the political amnesty, and Puigdemont requests a judicial one: "The situation is not normal."

BrusselsThe third time's the good one. After traveling twice as president of the Generalitat to Brussels, Salvador Illa finally decided to meet with Carles Puigdemont at the Delegation of the Generalitat in the Belgian capital this Tuesday, in an image that certifies the political amnesty granted to the former president of the Generalitat by the Socialist leader. "Now it's time," announced the Socialist leader, rephrasing an expression associated with the Convergent imagery. Thus, the meeting between Isla and Puigdemont took place, which lasted an hour and a half, at the very beginning of the new political year. The president of the Generalitat sought to put another shovelful of earth on the coffin of the Process and begin a new era on the eve of the opening of budget negotiations, both in Barcelona and Madrid, while the amnesty is still pending full implementation. Despite the Constitutional Court's endorsement, the Spanish judiciary continues to block the implementation of the law agreed between the pro-independence parties and Pedro Sánchez.

The visit was express. Isla traveled to and from Brussels this Tuesday. In fact, the Socialist leader avoided setting foot in the House of the Republic in Waterloo, and the meeting was held at the headquarters of the Delegation of the Generalitat in the Belgian capital. Isla's chief of protocol greeted the former president-in-exile at the entrance to the official building in the European Institutions Quarter, and together they went up to the second floor, where the president of the Generalitat was waiting. There they took a photo of their handshake. The space was small and packed with journalists, including international ones, and no flags were visible: neither Catalan, nor Spanish, nor European. Both were smiling, although they only exchanged a few words on camera about the rain that began to fall right at the start of the meeting. The rest of the meeting was held behind closed doors, and they made no statements afterward. Afterward, the two leaders left separately—first Puigdemont, and then Isla—without saying anything to the press.

After a while, Illa published a tweet in which he repeated the message he had issued before the meeting: he framed it within the round of contacts he had made with all the former presidents of the Generalitat. "Dialogue is the engine of democracy that allows Catalonia to continue moving forward. Today we set a good example." Despite thanking Isla for "the kindness and the conversation," Puigdemont regretted that the meeting had not taken place earlier and that it could not be held in Catalonia, thus insisting that the judicial amnesty be granted to him. "Today it has become clear once again that we are not living in a situation of normality," he tweeted.

After the meeting, Isla only attended the opening of the Montserrat Monastery exhibition in the European Parliament, organized by the Spanish People's Party (PP). In fact, the PP made it clear in a statement that the event was not organized by the Catalan government. Isla did not participate, but sat in the front row. Isla's previous trips to Brussels had lasted two or three days, taking the opportunity to schedule several meetings. At that time, Junts insistently requested a meeting with Puigdemont as part of the round of contacts with the other former presidents of the Catalan government, but he had avoided it until now, when the PSC leader traveled to the Belgian capital just to see Puigdemont.

The moment is worth it. Puigdemont and Illa have been on opposite paths since 2017: in the year of the 1-O referendum, the leader of Junts went into exile, while the first secretary of the PSC (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) demonstrated in Barcelona against that very referendum. Eight years later, the PSC (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) has regained the presidency of the Catalan government, and Junts plays a decisive role in both Barcelona and Madrid. Both parties maintain that Tuesday's handshake is not linked to the negotiations for the Catalan and Spanish budgets. However, as sources at the Moncloa (Ministry of Justice) admit, it is clear that this gesture "helps" improve relations between the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) and Junts (Spanish Workers' Party), and the First Vice President of the Spanish government, María Jesús Montero, has hailed the meeting as "good for dialogue" and asserted that it "is in line with continuing to build mutual trust." Be that as it may, Junts will hold its executive and permanent meeting in Waterloo this Wednesday morning to kick off a new political year in which the party's leadership will have to decide how far to push Madrid, with the budget on the horizon and multiple agreements to fulfill, as well as its role in the Catalan legislature.

The meetings with Díaz and Cerdán

While waiting to see whether a photograph of a meeting between Pedro Sánchez and Carles Puigdemont will eventually emerge, the Junts leader has so far only met with Vice President Yolanda Díaz, the former number three of the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party), Santos Cerdán, and, this Tuesday, with Isla. However, the regional minister for Territory and government spokesperson, Silvia Paneque, denied that the meeting between the president of the Generalitat and the Junts leader followed the "instruction" or "interference and suggestion" of the Spanish government. "The moment was chosen by the president," Paneque stated at a press conference, noting that it comes at a time when the Constitutional Court has endorsed the amnesty law.

On the other hand, the secretary general of Junts, Jordi Turull, has asserted that "everything" Isla does is "in the key of the PSOE," but said in an interview on TV3 that a meeting between Puigdemont and Sánchez would be "important," as it would serve to grant a "political amnesty" for the former president. "It would be a way of saying: although there are judges who do not want to apply the amnesty, we are granting a political amnesty in recognition of President Puigdemont as a leading actor," Turull said. On the other hand, the Junts leader sought to cool expectations about Junts' support for the state budget, criticized the lack of budget execution assigned to Catalonia that has dragged on for years, and warned Sánchez that "before sitting down to negotiate, they must prove that they have complied with the current budgets."