Lluís Mijoler, a member of parliament for the Comuns party, clashed with Anna Navarro of Junts during the parliamentary committee discussing administrative reform. He demanded to speak first, proposing that his group summon Minister Albert Dalmau to appear before the committee. Off the record, she remarked that this, too, was bureaucracy. "It's not bureaucracy, it's order," Mijoler retorted. When asked to stick to the topic, he replied, "Then she shouldn't question me."
ANALYSIS
What do Catalans think about the war?
29/11/2025
2 min
BarcelonaThis week Emmanuel Macron has announced a volunteer program in France to recruit young people in the army and the The group of states of the European Union are heading to reinstate mandatory military service. For now, Spain is an exception—the Spanish government has always maintained that it is not on the table—but the perception that a war in Europe is possible has been spreading among the population. Or at least that is the message that governments of different political stripes are conveying to their respective public opinions, at a time when—it must be said—they also need a pretext with public support to increase military spending, as demanded by NATO and Donald Trump.
In this sense, the international landscape is shaking Catalan public opinion. For the first time, the CEO barometer has asked about war, and the results are surprising considering the traditionally anti-militarist culture in Catalonia. To the question, "If a country in the European Union were attacked in the future, what should, in your opinion, be the attitude of the other countries?", a majority of Catalans (51%) responded that it would be necessary to "defend the attacked country, even if this meant that Spain went to war with the aggressor country." 38% responded that "entering into armed conflict should be avoided in all cases, even if it meant sacrificing the interests of the attacked European country." 11% did not know how to answer. In other words, a significant portion of Catalan public opinion assumes, even if only hypothetically, the possibility of armed conflict.
If we look at the results by party, only the electorate of the most left-leaning parties opt to avoid war in all cases (Comuns and the CUP). More than 60% of supporters of Aliança Catalana and Vox believe that it is necessary to defend the attacked country, while between 50% and 60% of potential voters for Junts, PP, PSC, and ERC think the same. Put another way: if Russia were to launch an attack against a European country, the majority of Catalan society would see it as necessary to respond with arms as well.
Strengthening European defense capabilities
The numbers are also favorable, albeit with greater opposition, to increasing European defense capabilities. Fifty percent say yes, and 45% say no. This fragmentation is even more interesting when viewed from the perspective of party affiliation and age groups. Support for increased military spending is absolute among PP and Vox voters and exceeds 50% in the case of Aliança Catalana and the PSC. It is minimal among CUP and Comuns voters, standing at 38% among ERC voters. In the case of Junts, although it aligns with the right on other issues, a less bellicose political culture prevails in this instance, with 53% considering increasing European defense capabilities unnecessary or not very necessary.
In any case, the age groups point to how public opinion will evolve in the coming years: young people between 18 and 25 are the most in favor of increasing the military capacity of European countries compared to older generations. These figures, taken together, lead to one conclusion: whether the threat of war is more or less real, the EU has convinced a significant portion of the Catalan population that it is necessary to rearm.
The week's details
Clash in Parliament
Without the gowns
One unusual aspect of the Pujol case is that most of the lawyers are from Barcelona and will have to travel back and forth for each session. For this reason, many decided to leave their robes at home and rely on the ones normally available at the National Court. However, on the first day, they were informed that the person with the key to where they are kept was unwell. "Lucky we're wearing dark clothes," said one lawyer, who appeared in court in street clothes.
