The message left by 9/11
BarcelonaThe elections of May 14, 2024, marked a turning point in Catalan politics. For the first time since 2012, the self-proclaimed pro-independence parties do not have an absolute majority in the Catalan Parliament. However, this week's Diada, a year after Salvador Illa's investiture—last year's election was immediately after his election—certifies a definitive shift in Catalan politics.
Although the independence movement remains the social movement capable of mobilizing the most people in a demonstration in Catalonia, it is far from the number of previous demonstrations, even compared to 2024, when it managed to attract twice as many protesters as this year. What happened on Thursday is a clear sign that the coordinates that had served the movement to become the main force in Catalonia—power in institutions and massive street protests through organizations—no longer serve as a winner. In other words, this September 11th is an indicator that the recipe used by the independence movement since 2012 has become obsolete as a formula for dominating Catalan politics.
What will the main forces do in the face of this situation? The paradox is that recently, the parties have chosen to rely precisely on the leaders of 2017 to begin this new era. This is what their members have decided: Oriol Junqueras took over the party against those who wanted new faces, and Carles Puigdemont almost achieved unanimity within Junts, where they hope that the eventual return of the former president, pending the Constitutional Court ruling, will give them a boost.
Party members and their leaderships believe, therefore, that Puigdemont and Junqueras can lead the project in the new coordinates of 2025—in fact, both have already changed their strategy in Madrid—but it remains to be seen whether the electorate thinks the same. The acid test will be the municipal elections—in which they will have to compete with a strong PSC (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) and a new player on the rise in the polls in their strongholds in inland Catalonia, the Catalan Alliance—or, if there is an early election, in Spain, where they hold the key to granting the budget to Pedro Sánchez. Puigdemont is meeting with Junts deputies in Waterloo this week to set the tone for this new course—with voices calling for him to have more influence on the governability of Catalonia—while Oriol Junqueras will outline his strategy on September 30 at a conference, given that his main bet, the new financing, is stuck in Madrid. Can old leaderships embrace the new era? There's little time left to find out.
The marathon days of debate in Congress, always fraught with tension, also leave moments when members snicker. This is what happened to Sumar spokesperson Verónica Martínez during the discussion on reducing working hours. "Mr. Frigodedo," she said to Vox representative José María Figaredo, trying not to lose the thread of her speech against the extremists.
Miquel Calçada, a member of the board of RTVE, the Spanish public media corporation, proposed by Junts and recently elected to the Congress of Deputies, celebrated the Diada by hanging a fake Catalan passport. "Let's get the sleep out of our ears, only together will we be. Happy Diada and above all, don't forget to defend the language everywhere!" he tweeted on social media.