Salvador Isla, Pedro Sánchez's great squire

BarcelonaSalvador Illa is one of the Socialist leaders who has made the most staunch defense of Pedro Sánchez and his continued leadership of the Spanish government. Isla is not just another territorial baron as president of the Generalitat and leader of the PSC (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party)—the PSOE has few, and one of them is the critic Emiliano García-Page—but much more than that for the Spanish president: he is one of the people he trusts the most. One episode sums it up well: in the midst of the worst crisis Sánchez has faced since coming to power in 2018, he decided that the person he wanted to see, alone, in the Moncloa Palace, was Salvador Illa. It was Friday, June 20th And, although the official reason was the installation of a European artificial intelligence gigafactory in Mora de la Nueva, it's clear to everyone that it was just after the UCO report on Cerdán and before the PSOE federal committee that was supposed to reorganize the party, and in which the PSC took a relevant role with Montse Mín. At this meeting last Saturday, Isla was one of the leaders outside the Spanish government most determined to keep Sánchez at the helm. Now, where does this relationship of trust between Isla and Sánchez come from?

All the sources consulted from within and outside the Socialists make it clear that it's not just a matter of political harmony, but also personal. Their relationship has gone through different stages: the first direct contact Illa had with Sánchez's entourage, according to the sources consulted, was during the 2017 PSOE primaries, where the current Spanish president's campaign machinery was piloted by Santos Cerdán.

At that time, the first secretary of the PSC was Miquel Iceta and Illa was the organizational secretary. The PSC remained formally neutral, but its machinery, piloted by Isla, in practice, sided with Sánchez, since the majority of Catalan socialist leaders preferred him to Susana Díaz, who, during the Process, had much tougher positions on Catalonia. This has been demonstrated, since during Sánchez's term, pardons and amnesties were approved following the pact with the separatists. At that time, according to knowledgeable sources, Illa and Sánchez did not yet have a direct relationship. Rather, the interlocutor of the then-aspiring PSOE general secretary—as he had been until a few weeks ago—in almost all matters was Santos Cerdán, from whom the PSC never detected any suspicious behavior. as most leaders say, even at the state level.

The trial by fire

The close relationship between Sánchez and Isla arose when the PSC leader joined the Spanish government as Minister of Health. There was the acid test, as the pandemic broke out, and the two leaders overcame it to the point that they were bound by a thread that cannot easily be broken. He was in the Council of Ministers that match.

Sánchez had been told of the PSC's organizational secretary's work capacity and his "loyalty," something the Spanish president has seen in the most difficult COVID-19 situations, with the declaration of the state of alarm. "President, I haven't been here for two days; I know what a public health crisis means, and I know why I've come. I'm clear about where I am, and I know that I'm the fuse, the valve on the pressure cooker. I won't let you down; nothing will break that way. Whatever you have to decide, do it for the Generalitat," he told him. The year of the pandemic: from the state of emergency to the start of vaccination (Peninsula, 2022).

Isla lived in the Moncloa complex (in the Inia building), which meant they were closer than with other ministers. They called each other every night, and on occasion, Sánchez also shared lunch and a walk in the gardens of the Moncloa Palace with the current president of the Generalitat, aware that Isla didn't have his family in Madrid. Save, as the Spanish president described it, stands out in Sánchez's eyes as a "good manager," and it was in the summer of 2020 that the possibility of him pursuing a front-line political career in Catalonia began to be discussed. Both the PSC and the PSOE noted that, far from wearing him down as it might initially seem, Isla's management of the pandemic made him known to the electorate. It was Miquel Iceta, then first secretary of the PSC, who, after analyzing the polls, agreed with Sánchez on the need for a change of candidate. The polls showed that the Catalan electorate wanted a "change," but that Iceta did not embody it. Salvador Isla is their man.

The race in Catalonia

Sánchez and Iceta were not wrong about the change of horse In the Catalan Parliament elections, and after winning but not governing in 2021, Illa took office in 2024, now turning one year old. Over the past five years, the close relationship between the two presidents has remained intact, and they maintain frequent, fluid, and loyal contact. In fact, Isla has made cooperation with Madrid her banner to counter the tense years of the Process and has also relied on the continuity of Pedro Sánchez for many of her legislative commitments to her partners, such as special funding. Both leaders also share something else, and that is knowing how to turn "necessity into virtue": neither advocated amnesty (or special funding for Catalonia), but they have embraced it to reach government and agreements with the pro-independence parties. Reformism toward Catalonia and plurinationality are now part of their political platform, which has made them targets of the political, media, and judicial right.

Isla and the Socialist ranks are firmly convinced that the Spanish president must remain in the Moncloa at all costs and that Catalonia is a key piece in this support: it remains his main source of votes despite the Santos Cerdán crisis.

That is why the PSC rules out any change of horse Now, in the opposite direction: despite speculation in Madrid about the possibility that Isla could eventually replace Sánchez, all the Socialist sources consulted maintain that the position of President of the Generalitat is in the Principality. "Salvador Illa has made a very strong bet on Catalonia," states one of the sources consulted, who at the same time concludes, convinced that if there are elections in Spain, "the best PSOE candidate is still Pedro Sánchez."