Salvador Isla's recipe against Donald Trump

WitchesThe Process is over and the president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, wants to make this clear in the European Union. In a speech at the College of Europe in Bruges, the socialist leader has proclaimed the "return" of Catalonia to European politics and has assured that it has "the drive and ambition" to once again "occupy the place it deserves" on the continent. And, furthermore, has a recipe for dealing with the return of Donald Trump and the authoritarian drift that the entire community block is suffering: "In a word, European federalism."

Thus, Isla has recovered an old slogan of the PSC to, this time, face a challenge that affects all of Europe. "Federalism is a way of understanding the world and a way of co-governing, an alternative to a return to the world of great power politics and imperialism," added the president of the Generalitat. In this sense, the socialist leader has advocated strengthening ties between the member states and the regions of the EU, also in terms of military spending: he has supported the will of the community block toincrease military capacity and boost its competitiveness, especially against the United States and China.

The Generalitat is absolutely confident of becoming an influential player in European politics. "Given the current geopolitical context, Catalonia wants to once again exercise its responsibility and leadership in Europe," the president insisted. In this way, he pointed out that Catalonia has the potential to "once again lead the Spanish economy" and "once again become one of the economic engines of Europe." He justified this by showing off the country's industrial and technological fabric, as well as the latest macroeconomic data from the Principality: the Catalan economy grew by 3.6% in 2024, while that of Spain increased by 3.2% and the European Union by only 0.8%. "We have reached the lowest unemployment rate in recent years (7.87%)," Isla added proudly.

In a context in which the EU is increasingly toughening its policies against immigrants, Illa also wanted to claim the entry of newcomers and has assured that their arrival is a "necessity", both for Catalonia and for the European Union as a whole. In fact, the president of the Generalitat has described the Principality as a "land of welcome" and has stressed that this is "how it wants to continue being". "Everyone who comes to make Catalonia better is Catalan," the socialist leader stressed.

Catalan in Europe, stuck

Isla will also take advantage of her visit to Brussels to convey to various community leaders her desire that Catalan can be used in the European Parliament and be official in the European institutions as a whole, as the PSOE agreed with Junts. In this regard, she announced that she will convey to the President of the European Council, António Costa, that the linguistic recognition of the Catalan language is a "priority" for the Generalitat, and that progress in this regard would be a "strong signal" in favour of the plurality of the European Union and would contribute to "strengthening the feeling of Europeanism" of the Catalans.

It must be remembered, however, that both the initiative to allow Catalan to be spoken in the European Parliament and its official status in the EU as a whole are just as stranded as the last time Isla visited Brussels last November. Since then, there has been no progress in the European Parliament and several embassies in the EU of member states assure the ARA that they have been waiting for months for Spain requests a report from the EU about what legal and economic consequences the approval of this measure could bring. In fact, Isla himself has admitted that "it will not be resolved in a week or a month."

Beyond Costa, the president of the Generalitat also plans to meet with the vice president of the European Commission and head of Transición Neta, the socialist Teresa Ribera, and will intervene in the plenary session of the Committee of the Regions. He has also met with the rector of the College of Europe, Federica Mogherini, and with the director of the prestigious think tank Bruegel, Jeromin Zettelmeyer.