The cordon sanitaire that only works where the extreme right does not rule

BarcelonaThe cordons sanitaires against the extreme right were designed to prevent it from ever coming to power. In France, in Germany or in Catalonia. The original idea was basically the same and consisted in thinking that, without decision-making capacity or loudspeakers, the extreme right would end up invisible. In general, it has become evident that containing the extreme right is much more complicated than applying a cordon sanitaire, but the magic recipe to achieve this has not been found either. The curious thing about the Catalan case is that the cordon sanitaire is applied in theory, but not in practice.

In May of last year, the PSC, ERC, the CUP and Junts placed Aliança Catalana within the cordon in which, since 2021, Vox was already. "This is not a game, it is very serious, the fight against the fascist threat must be done together," said the leader of Junts, Carles Puigdemont. In the Parliament, neither Vox nor Alianza have had the option of agreeing on any parliamentary initiative. In fact, only the PP has supported them in some of the votes, all of them rejected by the majority of the chamber. The signatories of the cordon do not negotiate, and they are considered anti-democratic forces. Of course, in the Parliament, the eleven deputies of Vox and, above all, the two of Aliança have no influence on the votes. They are not necessary for anyone.

The extreme right, on the other hand, does rule in Ripoll and there is no cordon sanitaire there: The political forces have not isolated Silvia Orriols and ERC and Junts even negotiated the 2025 budget, which will finally be approved due to the failure of the motion of censure. Already in 2023, the absence of an agreement between ERC, Junts, PSC and the CUP allowed Orriols to become mayor. And this Tuesday the councilor of Junts Ferran Raigon He stated that "in Ripoll there is no sanitary cordon". The argument of the opposition parties is that in order to make Ripoll work better they must try to influence the decisions of the municipal government. What if, instead of Ripoll, it were the government of Catalonia?

The Catalan cordon sanitaire only works where the extreme right does not rule. And that is until now, because this Wednesday, in statements to TV3, the Junts deputy Salvador Vergés has reflected on the future of this tool: "It is being shown in Europe and around the world that cordon sanitaires, as they are understood at this moment, are a mistake."