Why is Esquerra now confronting Aliança?

BarcelonaThat Aliança Catalana (AC) is causing discomfort within Junts, ERC, and the CUP is a given. It's also true that none of the three have found a way to stop the rise of this far-right party. Junts is the one suffering most from this surge, as it's the party from which AC would siphon off the most votes, according to the latest published polls. However, if we consider the data from the latest barometer by the Center for Opinion Studies (CEO), Esquerra would also see a 4% shift of votes toward Sílvia Orriols' party—compared to 8% for Junts. Until now, the Republicans had distanced themselves from Aliança, but had only engaged in confrontation on a few occasions. For example, MP Najat Driouech had done so in Parliament in response to Orriols' Islamophobic remarks. But last Sunday, Oriol Junqueras went a step further and directly suggested that Aliança was an "instrument" created by the Spanish secret services to divide the independence movement. Why did he do this? Has ERC changed its strategy?

The party argues that Sílvia Orriols's party has grown so large that it no longer makes sense to ignore it. Does this mean that from now on, it will be the general trend for the Republicans to engage head-to-head with Sílvia Orriols's party? The answer is no. However, Esquerra does want to point out what they consider Aliança's weaknesses, beyond simply presenting them as a far-right party. They tried to do this last week when they placed Orriols's party close to the deep state Spanish. In fact, the Republicans believe that equating Alianza with Vox could be a winning scenario for them, in addition to labeling AC as the party that defends the "powerful," sources within the party indicate. However, will they enter the immigration debate? They want to combat it with data, a strategy that has so far failed to prevail against the simplistic messages of the far right.

Orriols took the bait from Junqueras's barb and has been elaborating on his response all week. He criticized the Republican leader for speaking in Spanish on the program. Saved And she recalled that she had been active in the youth wing of ERC – she even displayed her membership card on social media. She positioned herself on the defensive, sources within ERC emphasize, which they consider a victory, because they point out that Orriols is comfortable on the attack. Within the Republican ranks, Aliança has also gained institutional positions, and although the leadership isn't afraid of a significant drift towards the far right, they do admit that a hypothetical upward trend could hinder them. That's why they too have decided to go on the offensive. However, the party is aware that they will have to carefully consider their tactics because the risk of further empowering the leader of Aliança is real. Will the strategy be effective? Only the ballot box will tell.

The week's details