Who does Junts represent?
MadridFor many years, surely since its founding in 2017, Junts has been accused of not having clear ideological lines. With the Procés and the metamorphosis of Convergència, the right-left axis blurred and the national agenda predominated in all cases. Almost ten years later, the codes of Catalan and Spanish politics are different and, especially in Congress, the voting agenda forces one to engage in debates that had previously been uncomfortable for the juntaires. Not anymore: Junts has adopted a clear line in ideological proposals on housing that differs from the price controls proposed by the left, and is increasingly critical of Pedro Sánchez's government.
The proof was Tuesday's vote, in which Míriam Nogueras's party, backed by Carles Puigdemont's political leadership, took a risky stance: no to the extension of rents by Sumar-PSOE, and no to the investment consortium of ERC-PSOE. Risky because housing is the main problem according to all citizen surveys, and risky because the consortium has to do with an attempt to execute pending State investments in Catalonia.
Let's take it step by step. Regarding housing, Junts's position should surprise no one. In fact, if there was a PSOE-Sumar crisis in the Council of Ministers when the decree-law was approved, it was because the Socialists already knew what would happen. The juntaires have chosen to defend what they call "small property owners" and electorally consider it beneficial. They interpret that they have found a discursive space that no one is representing in Catalonia. And for now, they say, despite criticism in public debate, they are getting good feedback from these sectors in private. Whether this electoral niche is more or less large will be seen in the next elections, but what is certain is that Nogueras has chosen to represent the antithesis of the price containment policies advocated by the left of Sumar, Podemos, and Esquerra. The moral discourse displayed by Yolanda Díaz and Gabriel Rufián will not change this position, and if they want Junts to moderate its stance, they will have to negotiate with their proposals, which involve tax reductions.
And let's not fool ourselves, as Aitor Esteban brilliantly diagnosed, this legislature there is a negative majority. Not a left-wing one. Josep Sánchez Llibre has described it like this: "Junts has made it impossible to implement the 37.5-hour workday by law. It has been a genuine containment wall to prevent pro-communist proposals," he said recently on TVE's Cafè d'idees. This is relevant for Carles Puigdemont's party, as it synthesizes a reconciliation effort they have forged with the business community since the 2017 split.
The unexplored territory
Another matter is the investment consortium. It is true that Junts has rejected the entity agreed upon by the PSOE and Esquerra from the first moment, but one thing is to say it and another is to do it. That is to say, to execute the decision and veto the start of the process: it was not a definitive text, unlike the extension of rents, and the Junts members had room to introduce changes during the process. With this decision, then, Junts takes a step into unexplored territory, which is to vote against even a minimal advance for the Generalitat. A prelude to what may happen with the financing proposal.
It is easy for Junts to say that the entity agreed upon by the PSOE and ERC is little and that it lowers national ambition to zero —some businessmen have tried to convince them covertly and without success—, but the problem is when the dilemma is between getting little and getting nothing. Because the majority of the blockade is also for their proposals —delegation of immigration powers— and as long as former president Carles Puigdemont remains in Waterloo, they will not be able to exhibit a major triumph from their pact with the PSOE either.
