Salvador Illa threatens Alejandro Fernández with legal action to link him to the Cerdán case.

BarcelonaThe day after the imprisonment of former Socialist party organization secretary Santos Cerdán for alleged corruption, a tense face-to-face confrontation erupted in the Catalan Parliament: the leader of the Catalan People's Party (PP), Alejandro Fernández, attempted to link the president of the Generalitat (Catalan government), Salvador Illa, to the alleged irregularities in the purchase of the ballot box, which he called "unintentional." "He'll regret it," Illa said, addressing Fernández in a serious tone: "I reserve my right to act." Salvador Illa was outraged and declared that Fernández had made a "serious mistake." "What he said is completely false; he deserves the award for political fiction," he concluded, making it clear: "I don't even know who this person you mention is, nor have I spoken to him through any app or had any conversation with him. He's driven by the passions of some people," he retorted. However, the PP leader remained silent from his seat.

As in the plenary session fifteen days ago, Fernandez has asked him again "Who is Chili?", clinging to the fact that the report from the Central Operative Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard on Cerdán said that the president of the Generalitat spoke with Chili on Signal. Fernández began his interpellation thus: "I do know who Chili is, we finally know. He was not the cousin of Vaquilla or Torete as his name suggested, but rather Xiajuan Li, Xi Li, a Chinese citizen supposedly wanted today who saddled the Ministry of Health, which you directed, with faulty investigations." The Popular Party leader referred to information from The Objective which suggests that the "Chili" –who appears transcribed as such in the UCO report– is an alleged criminal named Xiajuan Li (Xi Li).

"In light of the events, it is hard to understand that you did not know who Xi Li or Xi Li was," Fernández concluded. He also added that "Koldo and Xi Li did coordinate the purchase of masks for your ministry, and according to Koldo, you reported the progress to Xi Li via Signal every day." Furthermore, he accused the president of having responded in this regard "angrily and insolently, insufficiently and deliberately hiding information that we all know today." The second round of this confrontation took place in the session of control of the Government, when the Minister of the Presidency, Albert Dalmau, accused Fernández of having told "falsehoods." "I hope you do know who Mr. Rajoy was," he told the PP spokesman, Juan Fernández.

In any case, the Catalan government reiterated this Tuesday that Isla is willing to appear before the Parliament if the Catalan chamber requests it, although sources from the Presidency emphasize that no date has been set for this future appearance. At the last meeting of spokespersons, the Socialists argued that the president could not make it this week due to scheduling issues, and ERC and Comuns ultimately supported postponing it.

Together focuses only on the meeting.

In contrast, the president of the Junts parliamentary group, Albert Batet, has only focused on the meeting between Isla and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, held ten days ago without informing the Moncloa Palace. According to Junts, it was to discuss "the problems of the PSOE." in the midst of the storm over the Cerdán case, but Isla has denied this: "Do not confuse opacity with discretion," he said. The president explained that the meeting discussed Móra la Nova's candidacy to host the event. an AI gigafactory linked to the European Union, but declined to reveal whether they discussed the Cerdán case.

Commons spokesperson David Cid also asked Isla for an explanation, demanding that the Socialists clean up their act "no matter who falls" and begin implementing measures against corruption in Catalonia as well. For example, by protecting whistleblowers in corruption cases or banning Acciona from public tenders. After this intervention, the Catalan president pledged to go "to the end" against corruption and said he was open to hearing measures. He also defended the "forceful" reaction of the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party), emphasizing that Cerdán is no longer a member of the PSOE: "He has been expelled [...] Yes, you can laugh now. Not everyone can say this," he said, referring to the PP (People's Party). Except for Juntos, the PP, and Comuns, no group has questioned the PSC leader about the alleged corruption case affecting the former number three of the PSOE, nor has Vox, which has addressed the problems in education.