Salvador Illa boasts in Madrid of Catalonia's "loyalty": "It is the first time there is no nationalist majority"

MadridA decade ago, when a president of the Generalitat landed in Madrid, it was to defend the possibility of Catalonia's self-determination. Artur Mas did it first; then Carles Puigdemont, Quim Torra, and finally Pere Aragonès. Ten years later, however, the Catalan government presents itself as the best guarantee of "institutional cooperation" and "loyalty" to the project of the Spanish government captained by Pedro Sánchez. The president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, starred this Monday in a press breakfast in the Spanish capital, organized by Efe and Rtve, in which he highlighted the moment Catalonia is experiencing: the Generalitat has budgets; it "leads" the new financing proposal where all autonomies gain resources, and it is synonymous with "stability". Of course, he asked for "celerity" in applying the amnesty law, reproaching those who accused the PSOE of reviving independence: "It is the first time in forty years that there is no nationalist and independentist majority. It has not revitalized, on the contrary [...]. I know what I'm talking about".

Illa himself recalled where he came from. In his opening speech, he said: "In April 2025, at the Círculo de Bellas here in Madrid, I committed to Catalonia being up to the circumstances and exercising its responsibility with Spain and Europe [...]. A year and three months later, I can affirm before everyone that Catalonia is fulfilling [...]. It has recovered its full capacity to offer a necessary response. Constructive politics is more beneficial than confrontation," summarized the president of the Generalitat.

In this way, Illa defended the strategy of the Spanish government, in which the PSC has been a participant, regarding Catalonia, unlike the situation that occurred when the PP had an absolute majority, when he recalled that territorial tension was at its peak. With this track record, Illa defended two key projects for the Generalitat: both the amnesty and the new financing model.

In relation to the ruling that the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) is to make on the amnesty this Thursday, Illa has expressed confidence that it will be a "clear" ruling and hopes it will encourage the law to be applied with "diligence" and without "delay." Just as the judiciary demands "respect" and "independence," the president has called on the Supreme Court to respect the legislative power, taking into account that it has been two years since the amnesty law was approved in the Courts with a "clear spirit" of ending the criminal cases of the Procés.

Regarding funding, the President of the Generalitat has defended the proposal that has put on the table by the Treasury, negotiated with ERC and PSC, but right now only has the vote in favour of Catalonia. According to the head of the Catalan executive, PP communities have no arguments to oppose it because it increases the resources of all autonomies, even though those governed by the PSOE do not understand the model either. "Enough of distrusting Catalonia. We don't have to ask permission to lead. Enough of criticizing proposals for their origin and not for their content. Those who do this are bad Spaniards," he stated.

Message of optimism for the PSOE

From the front row of the informative breakfast, held at the Cervantes Institute in Madrid, was the Minister of Territorial Policy, Ángel Víctor Torres, who later endorsed Illa's statements to the media, as well as top PSOE figures: the organization secretary, Rebeca Torró, and the deputy secretary for organization and electoral action of the party, Borja Cabezón.

In fact, at one point during the breakfast, Illa took on the responsibility of lifting spirits within the PSOE, which had succumbed to the judicial whirlwind of cases surrounding it. He asked to get to the "bottom" when there is corruption, but also warned that he believes "little in chance or coincidence," alluding to the avalanche of investigations. "We'll see what they end up with," he opined, and issued a warning to the judicial authorities: he assured that he cannot afford not to believe in justice, but asked the General Council of the Judiciary to focus on the data, which show an increase in citizen distrust. "They should feel challenged," he concluded.

And, faced with this scenario, are there still options for the PSOE to keep Moncloa? Salvador Illa believes so. "Pedro Sánchez will run in the next elections, win, and govern," he proclaimed optimistically, thus ruling out that he himself could be a replacement and deactivating the rumors that exist. "He is the best leader we have, the best we have had in democracy," he even said about Sánchez. In his opinion, one only needs to leave the State and see how the Spanish president is spoken of: he cited the positive macroeconomic figures, the "expansion of rights" or his leadership, he said, when denouncing the genocide of Gaza or standing up to Donald Trump. "The only one who said no to the NATO summit in front of the United States, which was asking to increase defense spending to 5%, was Pedro Sánchez," he highlighted.

"The alternative is regression," he continued, alluding to a government of Alberto Nuñez Feijóo, who "confuses temporary incapacity with cancer," he added, in relation to the controversy surrounding the PP leader for questioning sick leave. "Is this what awaits us?" he asked himself.

Interpellation to Junts

At this point, Salvador Illa has called out Junts, who are wavering between the left-wing majority and the PP and Vox in the Congress of Deputies. "They have to make decisions. We are not facing a conservative alternative, we are facing an involution, they want to dismantle, undo... there is no intermediate position, you are either in one place or the other," he stated.

In the president's opinion, this dilemma is also what is now on the table with the presentation of the State budgets, which tomorrow will suffer a first failure in the Congress of Deputies with Carles Puigdemont's announced 'no' to the budgetary stability objectives because they believe that the communities should have more spending margin. Despite this initial refusal, Illa has expressed confidence in the possibility that the 2027 accounts may move forward and has denied that they are a "procedure" or an "excuse" by the Spanish government to bring forward the Spanish elections in the first quarter of next year. "They would be a reaffirmation of the plural majority that exists in Spain," he concluded.

And now with a touch of lightheartedness, he was asked about one of the topics of the week, the Spanish national team. "We will watch the match and we hope to win," he summarized. A different answer from the one given by his Basque counterpart, Imanol Pradales, in this same setting when asked if he would like 'La Roja' to win the World Cup: "I would like the team that plays best to win. I am from the Basque team".