The PSC completes its symbiosis with the PSOE at Sánchez's worst moment.

BarcelonaWhen the Cerdán scandal broke, the PSC leaders' first reaction was astonishment, and then shame. They acknowledged this both on and off camera to the top brass of the Catalan Socialists, who reiterated the need for "zero tolerance" against corruption and called for a full understanding to be reached to clarify who is responsible for the scheme that allegedly involves the last two PSOE organizational secretaries, Santos Cerdán and José Luis Ábalos. However, the line that the top PSC leaders will defend at the PSOE federal committee this Saturday will continue to be one of "absolute" support for Spanish President Pedro Sánchez, according to party sources. The Catalan Socialists, in fact, are going to deepen their ties with the Spanish President's party at its most difficult moment.

The culmination of the symbiosis between the two parties will be reflected primarily in the election of the Lleida native. Montse Mínguez as the new spokesperson for the PSOEThis is the first time in history that the PSC has assumed this position, making Salvador Illa's party the voice of Ferraz. Mínguez, who will have Galician Enma López as his deputy, He has risen like a pumpkin in Madrid after making the leap to the lower house in 2019., where he already leads the Socialist group. And since Cerdán's departure, he was one of the four people of the interim team in the hands of whom Sánchez left the organizational secretary. There was even speculation that she could become the number three in the PSOE, although this responsibility will ultimately fall to Valencian Rebeca Torró.

Although under the leadership of Sánchez in Madrid and Isla in Barcelona the PSC and the PSOE have managed an unprecedented integration, the leader of the Catalan socialists claimed a few days ago that they are two distinct organizations. An argument he used when the Catalan opposition wanted to reproach him for the corruption cases that affect the PSOE due to his time as former Minister of Health: "My party is the PSC," he said. But the reality is that for days now, the party has been assuming that the bond between the two organizations will emerge strengthened from the conclave. "The PSC, as always, comes to the PSOE federal committee with the will and attitude to join forces, collaborate, and strengthen the collective project that socialism represents," assured Lluïsa Moret, the PSC's number two and party spokesperson, in an interview on Channel 324.

The impact in Catalonia

The outbreak of the Cerdán scandal caught the PSC in the final stretch of one of the key negotiations for the legislature: the specific financing. Officially, the government has always maintained that this issue has not affected the talks, although sources from the three parties involved did admit that the debacle in the PSOE over the UCO report that uncovered the plot paralyzed a dialogue that, in its final phase, had already been slowed by the Minister of State's reluctance to provide financing, as the Republicans complained. Finally, it was agreed to hold a Bilateral Commission on July 14. in which the Government hopes (but does not guarantee) to be able to provide "the details" of the new model.

However, the Socialists are not worried about the possibility that ERC could increase the pressure on the PSC government due to the Cerdán case, following in the footsteps of the PP. From the outset, the Catalan executive is trying to defend the idea that the crisis within the PSOE is independent of the Spanish government, although the epicenter of the corruption being investigated by Judge Leopoldo Puente was Ábalos's Ministry of Transport. "The actions of the PSOE are one issue, and the day-to-day operations of the Spanish government are another," said Silvia Paneque, spokesperson for the Catalan government and Minister of Territory. Beyond the rhetoric, the government is working hard to uphold the agreements reached between the two socialist executives—for example, with the transfer of the Cercanías (local trains) and the expansion of the airport– to demand its continuity, which is also a condition for Salvador Illa to fulfill his own agreements with ERC and move the Catalan legislature forward.