The day a Junts-sponsored councillor voted in favour of the takeover bid

BarcelonaPolitics takes so many turns that one day you're prosecuted for sedition and the next you're part of a state agency like the National Commission on Markets and Competition (CNMC). This is what happened to Pere Soler, director general of the Police during the 1-O referendum, who joined the CNMC last January at the suggestion of the Spanish government and with the endorsement of Junts.

Junts and ERC have been practicing a fish-in-the-cove 2.0 scheme in Madrid for some time now, which includes participating in the distribution of positions in state agencies, just as CiU did in its day. A quick review shows ERC reportedly promoted Sergi Sol to RTVE and economist Jordi Pons to the Bank of Spain. Junts, for its part, reportedly did the same with Miquel Calçada to RTVE and the aforementioned Pere Soler to the CNMC. In the case of Junts, we should add some appointments in public companies, such as Ramon Tremosa at Aena, Elena Massot at Enagás, and Eduard Garcia on the board of directors of Renfe. These appointments, incidentally, provoked a huge booing from Gabriel Rufián to Junts deputies in Congress.

The logic of entering the distribution of positions is familiar: it gives you influence and firsthand information about what's going on in these organizations. But of course, it also has its drawbacks. In a way, it forces you to take joint responsibility for the governance of the state from which, in theory, you want to become independent. Not to mention giving credence to the refrain of "chairs" and "payoffs."

Unrest in Sabadell

This contradiction became evident this week when it was revealed that the CNMC member sponsored by Junts, Pere Soler i Campins, voted in favor of BBVA's takeover bid for Sabadell on Wednesday. This was only after securing a final ruling that raised the conditions to guarantee financing for SMEs. But it remains the case. Soler Campins voted in favor and declined to cast a separate vote against, which would have been very useful to the Spanish government in the face of a possible veto of the operation.

Soler Campins' decision fell like a bucket of cold water on Banc Sabadell, which had counted on the fact that at least he, as a Catalan, would oppose it. Meanwhile, Junts maintained an awkward silence until Friday, when Jordi Turull rushed to distance himself from his sponsor.

The fact is that these things happen quite frequently. Soler, who still has six years left in his term, has prioritized aligning himself with the organization's president, Cani Fernández, whose goal was to achieve unanimity among the board and avoid a dissenting vote. Soler could have refused on principle, but he chose to negotiate, and if the takeover bid goes ahead, he'll be able to claim that SMEs will have better financing conditions thanks to him. But in the end, what remains is that he, and by extension Junts, voted in favor of a takeover bid that would liquidate a century-old Catalan bank like Sabadell.

The details

In Madrid, political debate has long since crossed all boundaries of parliamentary courtesy, but the People's Party (PP) in the Community of Madrid takes the cake. In a tweet responding to one from the Madrid PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) denouncing Ayuso's appropriation of the May 2nd holiday, they wrote the following: "As long as you don't celebrate with whores and cocaine, everything will be fine."

This week we learned the professional fate of former Congress president Meritxell Batet, of the PSC (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party). Batet has been appointed an independent director of Ebro Foods (owner of rice brands such as SOS and La Fallera) at the suggestion of SEPI, which holds 10% of the company's capital. Batet joins the company to replace Marc Murtra, recently appointed president of Telefónica.