Barcelona / MadridHe March 4th Together, in a press conference at the party's headquarters, announced a pact with the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) to delegate immigration powers to the Generalitat (Catalan Government). The bill stipulated, among other things, that the Catalan government would assume executive powers currently carried out by the State, such as residence permits, both temporary and long-term, and the issuance of foreign identification numbers (NIE), and that the Mossos d'Esquadra (Spanish Police) would have a presence at the border. The proposal had been shelved since then because it lacked a sufficient majority in Congress to pass, until this Tuesday, when the chamber's board put it back on the table: a first debate will be held next Tuesday, its consideration.
What has changed? To begin with, nothing in terms of support, since it is also doomed to fail due to Podemos's rejection. This Tuesday, the purple party made it clear that it would oppose a law it considers "racist" regarding the delegation of immigration powers to Catalonia. "It's a law that can only be understood within the framework of the electoral struggle between Junts and the Catalan Alliance," argued sources from Ione Belarra's party. Podemos emphasizes that it is not opposed to granting the Generalitat greater self-governance, but it distances itself from the proposal. In fact, In a recent interview in the ARA, Belarra asserted that as long as Podemos is needed in Congress, this law will not be passed, as they believe that if the National Police and Civil Guard are already carrying out "racist raids," with jurisdiction in Catalonia, the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan Mossos d'Esquadra) would do so, as they have much "more presence in the region."
"The bill agreed upon by the PSOE and Junts is a law with openly racist intentions, as can be read in its very preamble, which speaks of immigration as a problem and a risk to coexistence and social cohesion," added Podemos sources this Tuesday, awaiting the reduction of the working day. Míriam Nogueras, leader of the Junts party, and the Spanish vice president, Yolanda Díaz, engaged in one of the most bitter debates within the plurinational majority of the legislature.
The proposal, in any case, does have the support of regional council members and Socialists, as well as Esquerra (Republican Left). Sources from the party in Madrid disagree with Podemos—despite believing that Junts is demanding these powers due to pressure from the Catalan Alliance in the polls—but they defend the Generalitat's responsibility to have migration powers. "I invite Podemos to help defeat the Catalan right and far right at the polls, not by making a speech that no one understands," these sources concluded.
The moment
The majority of the roundtable, along with PSOE and Sumar, are making this move at a time of difficult relations with Junts. Carles Puigdemont's party has warned the PSOE that it must unblock its agenda, from immigration to the official status of Catalan, including Puigdemont's return, if it does not want its support permanently withdrawn. This Monday, following the meeting of Junts deputies in Waterloo with Puigdemont, the spokesperson in the Parliament, Mònica Sales, threatened to shake the stability of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. "Things could happen in the fall," she warned without elaborating.
Catalan is not discussed in the Council
The Spanish government has downplayed the possibility that member states will not discuss the official status of Catalan in European institutions at the European Union Council meeting this Tuesday. "Spain will not give up," said Secretary of State for the EU, Fernando Sampedro, in a statement to the press.
Sampedro also asserted that a potential agreement among member states on the initiative does not need to be finalized in a Council of the European Union, but could be sealed by the ambassadors of the European countries. However, he did not rule out the possibility that the state governments could discuss it again in a Council before the end of the year.
