Unfortunately, the upheaval that the world is suffering, with regional conflicts of strong global implications, economic but above all of democratic culture, diminishes the Catalan cause. Now, as almost a hundred years ago, the emergence of totalitarian, not to say fascist, positions and discourses demands a strong democratic reaction that, as a hundred years ago, is not happening nor is it foreseen. Despite everything, it is essential that it occurs, for the good of all and, above all, of the young generations. And the leadership can only fall to consolidated democracies, with Europe at the forefront, following the stance made explicit by Mark Carney, the Canadian Prime Minister, at the last meeting of the Davos Forum.We must promote policies for greater European integration, supporting political parties that are firmly committed to it, not just discursively. As European integration progresses, the sovereignty of states will diminish. The most relevant decisions – economic, regulatory, or geopolitical – will no longer be made solely at the state level, but increasingly at the European level. In such a context, some issues that today seem almost irresolvable – such as the Spanish state allowing a referendum on self-determination – may be different. When the political weight of states is diluted, the relationships between peoples, territories, and governments can be reorganized with greater flexibility and less drama than we perceive today.Perhaps, then, the most realistic path lies not so much in local decisions as in contributing to the construction of a federal Europe, a Europe in which its peoples share the great responsibilities and challenges of our time.

If we accept that the Catalan people have the right to decide, the next question is practical: why do they want independence? A people's independence is for itself, not against any other. Ultimately, nothing is more natural than wanting to decide for oneself.

At a time when the debate on the future of universities is once again on the political agenda, funding, governance, and jurisdiction are often discussed, but far too little is said about what is truly at stake: the model itself. Over the last two decades, Catalonia has built a university system with its own distinct profile, geared towards international competitiveness and attracting talent. The question is not only whether this model has borne fruit—the data suggests it has—but whether we are prepared to preserve it.

Why revisit the question of Catalan independence today? Because the debate on regional funding has resurfaced, once again, shrouded in language that expresses grievance against Catalonia, explicitly portraying it as a subordinate society, not fully involved in defining strategies in Spain. And because the recurring infrastructure crisis—commuter rail, the Mediterranean Corridor, decades of accumulated investment shortfalls, the strangulation of all public services—can no longer be presented as a series of technical issues. When these shortcomings are systematically repeated in the same region, the issue ceases to be administrative and becomes political.

In the final days of the year, a headline in Tac12 caught my attention: "Aid to industry is being overlooked." This is no small matter: the public resources needed to promote and boost industrial activity belong to everyone, including those in our region. What does it mean that this year they've been overlooked?

In an article published inNew York TimesLast week, Alexandra Stevenson referred to a second "China shock." The first, two decades ago, corresponded to the displacement of a significant portion of production from European and American factories to Chinese industries. Now, the measures promoted by the Trump administration are leading China to increase exports to developing countries in order to sustain economic growth based on a huge trade surplus. Herein lies the second "China shock": the destruction of these countries' own industrial fabric, with Chinese factories in places like Vietnam and Indonesia, where social unrest is growing. This runaway and out-of-control dynamic is a consequence of the lack of minimal global governance. Countries can decide on the level of state control over economic activity. However, on a global scale,TrumpismIt is eliminating the few globally agreed-upon regulatory mechanisms, and the world is drifting toward a rampant liberalism dominated by immediate profit and a prisoner's dilemma-like scenario: each player seeks only to maximize their own gain, regardless of the others. In this situation, the dominant strategy is betrayal, so the only possible equilibrium is for all players to betray. A bleak future awaits us if we continue down this path.

Lately, a narrative has been circulating in discussions and some books that contrasts those born during the post-war population boom with the newer generations. According to this discourse, the well-being of the former is mortgaging or conditioning the future of the latter. But this idea, rather than being the result of rigorous analysis, is a simplistic fallacy that obscures the real causes of current inequalities and tensions, which are certainly worrying.

With a GDP exceeding €280 billion and more than eight million inhabitants, Catalonia would be positioned at the center of the European Union. Its human and economic dimensions invite better use of the capacities distributed throughout the country, which presents internal realities with a size and potential comparable to those of many European regions that promote their own innovation and smart specialization strategies (RIS3). It is necessary to bring out the endogenous and differentiated capacities of each Catalan region so that, with the involvement of their economic fabric and the support of at least one university, they can become knowledge regions responsible for their own development policies.

In many democracies, the alternation between right-wing and left-wing governments does not occur under symmetrical conditions. This asymmetry is reflected in the organic and structural nature of the parties: the right tends to be more cohesive, with strong leadership and shared strategies, while the left is characterized by greater internal fragmentation, more marked ideological diversity, and a permanent—and often paralyzing—debate between nuances and internal currents.

The person who has popularized the "I like fruit", has been the subject of new displays of bad manners these weeks. She's rude. But what does being rude mean today? (DIEC: "lacking civility – politeness in one's ways of behaving, especially in one's relationships with others). It really seems like a word from another time. We've become so accustomed to rudeness, to bad taste, in expression, in treatment, or in the way we dress, that the definition loses meaning and becomes history.

Energy is conserved, and mastering its transformation has been key to human evolution, always linked to technological progress and knowledge. The recent massive energy shutdown has made us realize how dependent we are and how fragile critical infrastructure like electricity is.

We can still remember the time when illiteracy was not uncommon and access to university was a privilege. Today, the global educational level has improved greatly, but this does not mean it is what our society needs to advance. International comparisons are worrying, but the domestic evidence is equally so, or even more so. Promoting economic policies will be of no use if the education system is not strengthened and improved.

The state of the public at the national, state and global levels reminds me once again of the bookDefense of democracyby Antoni Rovira i Virgili, published when the first effects of the crash of 1929 and the subsequent world economic crisis were being felt in Europe, the egg of the serpent of fascism (Bergmann), with terrible political and human consequences.