Will Juntos now bring down Pedro Sánchez?

BarcelonaThis Thursday afternoon, everything was going downhill in the Catalan Parliament. Long gone are those general policy debates that maintained tension until the last minute, characterized by back-and-forth in the corridors, negotiations until the last minute, and tension at the Parliamentary table over whether or not to admit a resolution related to self-determination (or the monarchy) that could leave its members in a lurch. The atmosphere in the Catalan chamber on this final day had nothing to do with all that; it's the new island peace.

Housing has had a central place in this general policy debate, as well as immigration and security, which are issues that have been addressed by the right and the far right, but also by the left, starting with Isla's own speech. All parties know that the axis of Catalan politics now runs through there and that, if they want to scrape votes, this is where they must dig.

Harmony with the partners

The PSC (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) has pampered Esquerra (Republican Left) in this general policy debate and endorsed the Republicans' plan regarding financing. But their thorn in their side is the Junts party. The PSC, as expected, voted against the possibility of negotiating a self-determination referendum within the international mediation space in Switzerland and also rejected the economic agreement for Catalonia. Mònica Sales cryptically warned Isla of the "consequences" of this, without specifying what this might mean, as they interpret Isla's positions as contradicting what they agreed with the PSOE. Will Junts now break with Sánchez?

Since the beginning of the current year, Junts has positioned Salvador Illa as just another variable in the equation with the PSOE, and some are tempted to point the president of the Generalitat (Catalan government) as "guilty" of a hypothetical rupture with Pedro Sánchez. The key is Carles Puigdemont.

The problem with the threats from the regional council members is that they now face the pressure of having to carry them out, and this forces them, within a period of time in December, to make some sort of show of force towards the leader of the PSOE. They may even break away, despite the risk of miscalculation: polls show that the Catalans' favorite Spanish president, ahead of Alberto Núñez Feijóo or Santiago Abascal, remains Pedro Sánchez.