Polls are stubborn. Both the CEO and the CIS point out that the left of the PSOE would lose support in the upcoming elections compared to 2023 and, therefore, representation in Congress, especially if they run separately. In this context, Ada Colau is not giving up and insists on calling for unity. The former mayor of Barcelona has even offered to step down as the Broad Front candidate and, if necessary, to change the name of the candidacy to reach an agreement with Podemos, although this very Wednesday the coalition officially presented its new electoral brand.

Broad majority for the approval of a new democratic memory law in Catalonia. The PSC, Junts, Esquerra, Comuns and the CUP have agreed on a legal text that includes the removal of the Francoist monument in Tortosa within a period of one year and of all those in Catalonia within a maximum of two; it demands that the Spanish government convert the Via Laietana police station in Barcelona into an interpretation center for torture and repression, and establishes a sanctioning regime that provides for fines between 200 and 250,000 euros for damages to key spaces for historical memory –such as mass graves–, the display of symbology or the glorification of Francoism, Nazism or fascism.

Salvador Illa has returned to Brussels. He maintains a busy international agenda and this week will be the fourth time that, as president of the Generalitat, he travels to the Belgian capital. The two most notable meetings he is expected to hold on Wednesday will be with the President of the European Council, António Costa, and the Vice-President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Clean, Just and Competitive Transition, Teresa Ribera, according to sources from the Catalan executive.

Ada Colau is not giving up on her crusade to unite the left at the national level. The former mayor of Barcelona has once again urged Gabriel Rufián, who has a good relationship with Podemos, to join the Broad Front left-wing coalition and to use "his leadership" to help her include the various formations to the left of the PSOE. In an interview on La Sexta, Colau considers that the republican spokesperson is a key actor to "meet the citizenry's demand": a single proposal for the upcoming Spanish elections on November 29th.

The path for Ada Colau to be the presidential candidate for the Broad Front is becoming increasingly paved. The day after Més Madrid—a key player in this left-wing coalition—proposed her as a candidate for the upcoming Spanish elections on November 29th, the former mayor confirmed that she is willing to head the list. However, the founder of the PAH continues to put pressure on Irene Montero, the leader of Podemos, to join the Broad Front, to the point that she has set it as a condition to take the decisive step at the head of the coalition formed by Sumar, Més Madrid, Esquerra, and Comuns. "I have been asked, and I have said that if we are all there, I will be there too. But we must all be there," Colau said in an interview with TVE.

A decisive move for Ada Colau to end up leading the candidacy for the Spanish elections for the left-wing coalition Broad Front. Més Madrid proposes that the former mayor of Barcelona be the candidate for the presidency of the Spanish government and head the list in Barcelona for the elections on November 29, according to sources from the same party. However, although this bet is key to paving the way for Colau to lead the Broad Front, it is not the final step, as the choice will have to have the approval of the four formations that have allied, also United Left (IU), Sumar Movement and Comuns.

Change of tone from Salvador Illa. This Wednesday was the first plenary session of Parliament after the total amnesty for Carles Puigdemont and the exiles, but also of the early election in Spain, and the President of the Generalitat has fully entered the pre-election campaign in the control session. The socialist leader, and great defender of Pedro Sánchez, has referred time and again to the Spanish elections of November 29 and has launched a forceful attack against the opposition. "Three acronyms, PP, Vox, and Junts; one single vote, blocking access to housing," he snapped, in reference to the two decrees that the three formations rejected last week.

The Catalan political year has begun as it ended: to the rhythm of crises and major announcements from the Palau de la Generalitat. In this week's general policy debate, Salvador Illa reaffirmed the measures he had already made public—especially when addressing such burning issues as housing or education—and added new ones. However, the homework is piling up for the President of the Generalitat, and the opposition and his own parliamentary partners, ERC and Comuns, already demanded "deeds and not words" and that he abandon the "grandiloquence" to really solve the problems, "now and not five years from now".

There is a shortage of young civil servants. The Generalitat warns that 12% of Catalan administration workers will retire by 2030 and that it needs to replace the 30,000 public positions that will become vacant over the next four years. For this reason, the Government wants to take advantage of the reform of the law on the School of Public Administration of Catalonia, which will be approved this coming Tuesday, to improve and strengthen the recruitment of young people and encourage them to apply for the Generalitat's civil service examinations.

In a week marked by housing across the country, Salvador Illa began the general policy debate on Tuesday with a set of measures to resolve the crisis that has been dragging on for years. The president announced a 25 million euro fund to prevent evictions similar to those of Maricarmen Abascal and also a program with which the Government will offer the option to Catalans over forty years old to share the ownership of their home – 50% of the home would remain with the public administration, which would cede ownership for forty or fifty years –. It is this last measure that has not received the endorsement of Parliament because the Comuns abstained. A setback for the executive, considering that the one who has derailed this resolution is one of the two investiture partners. ERC, on the other hand, voted in favor.

Junts will bring to a vote this Thursday the reprobation of the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa. It has little chance of succeeding, because one of the Government's partners, ERC, has already closed the door to voting in favor. However, the 'juntaires', besides wanting to reprove Illa, also want Parliament to request the dismissal of the Ministers of Interior and Education, Núria Parlon and Esther Niubó, due to the crises open in their two departments. The CUP also proposes reproving the Government's management for the "systematic non-compliance" of Parliament's agreements, just like the PP, although in their case, due to the "subordination" they consider the Catalan executive has to the Spanish one and to the pro-independence parties. Beyond these requests, in this Thursday's debate the groups are also bringing to a vote a battery of measures regarding housing, precisely the week that two housing decrees, which the Council of Ministers approved on Tuesday after negotiations, are to be validated in Congress in extremis.

The second day of the general policy debate has served to confirm the distance between Salvador Illa's government and the main opposition party, Junts, but also to confirm the pressure that his partners, Esquerra and Comuns, are willing to exert until the end of the term. The 'Juntaires' are the ones who have attacked the President of the Generalitat the hardest: the president of the parliamentary group, Mònica Sales, has described Illa as being the "worst president that modern Catalonia has had" and has proposed censuring him. Esquerra and Comuns have not been at all flattering either; quite the contrary, they have urged him to comply once and for all with the investiture agreements and also those derived from this year's budget. Illa, as usual, has chosen to dodge the criticism, especially that from Junts, and with an optimistic tone has once again extended his hand to all political forces, except Vox and Aliança Catalana.

Salvador Illa officially kicks off the political year with new promises, especially in housing. The President of the Generalitat announced in the general policy debate in Parliament that the Government will promote an anti-eviction fund; shared and temporary purchases between administrations and citizens who cannot afford the down payment on an apartment, and the expansion of emancipation loans for young people.

First point of contact for the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, with all political forces –except Vox– to put an end to the educational crisis. Together with the Minister of Education, Esther Niubó, he met with the parties with parliamentary representation and they agreed on the creation of two working groups to debate and finalize a national pact on the future model of the Catalan school, and to reach a consensus on a way to increase investment in education to reach 6% of the gross domestic product (currently it does not reach 4%). Even so, the parties have shown themselves to be skeptical of the plan and the main opposition party, Junts, has once again demanded Niubó's resignation.

Ada Colau is willing to take a step forward within the space to the left of the PSOE ahead of the next general elections. According to knowledgeable sources, the former mayor of Barcelona has changed her mind over the last few weeks and, after ignoring the siren calls of her party colleagues on several occasions, she has agreed to start working to promote a broad left-wing front in the State and to position herself as one of the main leaders, at a time when the post-Yolanda Díaz left is short on references.

Education is immersed in a permanent crisis. After months of teacher strikes and collecting poor student results, it has been joined by the PISA test fiasco. In this context, and after being requested by various parliamentary forces, the President of the Generalitat appeared in Parliament to provide explanations, but he completely exonerated the Minister of Education, Esther Niubó, and took refuge in the fact that he had already dismissed the department's number two. "The replacement of the Secretary General of Education has been executed," the socialist leader justified. Nevertheless, all the opposition parliamentary groups have demanded Niubó's resignation.

It matters little the crisis in Ceuta, the decline in the polls, and the judicial investigations that are besieging the president of the Spanish government. The PSC stands by Pedro Sánchez, from the president of the Generalitat to the rank and file. The support is absolute and the audience is noisy. The thousands of attendees at the Rose Festival would not even let the mayor of Gavà, Gemma Badia, who opened the event, speak. "President, president... You are not alone, you are not alone," they shouted. Salvador Illa's speech, which focused largely on praising the PSOE leader, was also accompanied by clamor and applause dedicated above all to the Spanish president. Everyone wanted to hear Pedro. When, at last, his turn came, some people in the audience asked everyone to sit down so they could see him better. The great protagonist of the evening did not disappoint them and promised that he would not throw in the towel: "I will govern until 2031 and beyond." The best, by Tina Turner, and Sánchez said goodbye amidst more chants of "president, president" and "you are not alone, you are not alone".

The municipal elections are approaching, polls predict a substantial growth of the far-right, and security is, more than ever, at the center of the debate. More and more leaders and parties, such as Junts and the PP, are hardening their rhetoric in this field. They want to prevent the debate from remaining solely in the hands of Aliança Catalana and Vox. And the president of the Generalitat and secretary-general of the PSC, Salvador Illa, does not want to be left on the sidelines either. In recent days, the head of the Government has chosen to reinforce messages against crime, especially regarding those offenses that most affect citizens' perception of insecurity.

At the entrance to La Zarza, a small Extremaduran town of about 3,000 inhabitants, there is a large Civil Guard presence. "This isn't normal, do you know what's happening?" asks the taxi driver. They are awaiting the visit of the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, to celebrate the National Day of Catalonia there. The whole town is full of it, it is the big event and there is quite a lot of anticipation. "There are posters everywhere and we've been notified through the Town Hall's WhatsApp groups," explains Amelia, a shoemaker at Calzados Moreno. Even so, not a single senyera (Catalan flag) is to be seen and quite a few Spanish flags are flying: the big question is whether the Catalan president—who has come as a sign of the fraternity between the peoples of the State—will be well received.

Salvador Illa has traveled to Extremadura to celebrate the Catalan National Day, seeking to extol the fraternity between the two territories and to vindicate the role of Extremadurans in the construction of Catalonia. The President of the Generalitat has lamented the years of the 'Procés'—in which "some spoke about others," but "some did not speak with others"—and has proclaimed the return of a "solidary" Catalonia that is favorable to understanding with Spain. However, the eternal tensions between the Principality and the rest of the State have resurfaced, and Illa has criticized in statements to the media the opposition of the vast majority of autonomous communities to the new financing, including that of the Junta of Extremadura governed by PP and Vox.