A few days ago, Floren Aoiz was in Palma, a Navarrese abertzale activist with a long trajectory, currently responsible for the area of political relations with the State of EH Bildu. Invited by the Darder Mascaró Foundations and the La Col·lectiva association, he granted an interview with Anna Mascaró, from Ara Balears, in which he said very interesting things. For example: “In Euskal Herria there is a greater tendency towards sovereignty among Basque speakers (...) but there are also many non-Basque speaking sovereigntists. In recent years, more: it is a growth linked to the perception that sovereignty offers an alternative for society as a whole. An alternative not only of the left, but also linked to society's ability to govern itself. To understand self-government in a certain direction, which is the defense of public services, the defense of better living and working conditions... A model of coexistence. In the case of Euskal Herria, the aspiration for sovereignty means that we want to obtain this sovereignty with respect to the Spanish and French states. But in the world we live in, it is also a demand for democratic sovereignty against capital, against international capital flows and decisions in which peoples have very little say”.It is so. Nine, ten years ago, when Catalan sovereignism was able to propose a true alternative, that is to say: a Republic based precisely on coexistence, equal opportunities (this implies the defense of public services and good living and working conditions), it had an absolute majority in Parliament, it confronted the Spanish state and obtained —briefly, but it obtained it— world attention. Many saw it as a threat to the established order, but this was precisely the greatness of the proposal and what made, in the eyes of many others, the Catalan Republic not seem like a threat, but rather a hope. The old order was what the Spanish state represented; the Catalan Republic represented —it promised— a step forward in rights and freedoms, a new 21st-century Republic, progressive, advanced, mature, capable of including citizens rooted in the past and those who have just arrived. A country founded on the Catalan language and culture, in dialogue with the languages and cultures of the world.Political defeat led to another self-inflicted defeat. A tortured abandonment in internal hemorrhages, psychodramas, obsessive searches for culprits, and idealizations of pasts supposedly better than they ever existed as invoked. Withdrawal, conservatism, and ultra-conservatism: the attitudes of the fearful and the opportunists who believe their moment has come to command something, even if it's just scraps. There are those who still insist on denying the existence of a Catalan far-right, even when it's right in front of them, and those who consider a poll sums to an "independentist majority" with the seats of Junts and ERC plus those of Aliança Catalana. This is indeed the direct path to definitive failure.

In a month's time, Salvador Illa's government will have approved the first budgets of the legislature. An agreement with Comuns and ERC that gives the executive breathing room and certifies that this is currently the only viable majority in Catalonia. Republicans and Comuns already invested Illa and, despite the tug-of-war of the last two years, they continue to be the partners that give him stability. Even to avoid inconvenient appearances by the president in Parliament. This Tuesday, for the second consecutive week, ERC, Comuns, and the PSC prevented the chamber from summoning Illa. Junts wanted him to appear to explain the role of the Generalitat in the crisis opened with public school teachers. Seven days ago, the Junts, with the support of PP and Vox, demanded that the president respond for the cases of alleged corruption that splash the PSOE (and that the judge does not rule out entirely that they have a derivative in the PSC).

It is not a new conflict. In the ERC parliamentary group in Madrid, things have not been calm for some time. The coexistence between Gabriel Rufián and a part of the group has reached an almost unsustainable point. And the party leadership has known this for a long time. The confrontation has intensified in recent months and has gone beyond the limits of Congress since the spokesperson for the Republicans launched his proposal for a left-wing front – which the Republican leadership rejects – and has threatened not to run again as an ERC candidate if the leadership does not accept his conditions: to surround himself with a trusted team and have more decision-making power in Madrid. How does Oriol Junqueras' leadership plan to address this conflict?

Salvador Illa's first budgets passed their initial parliamentary stage this Thursday. The debate on the entirety of the accounts once again highlighted the alliance that brought the socialist president to the Palau de la Generalitat and which the Government intends to serve it to reach the end of the legislature. Thus, the budgets have begun to be processed with the support of the two investiture partners, ERC and Comuns, with whom the Government reached an agreement two weeks ago. The executive, however, has not managed to secure the 'yes' of any of the opposition groups: Junts, the CUP, Aliança, the PP, and Vox had presented amendments in their entirety, four texts that have been rejected. The words of the Minister of Economy, Alícia Romero, asking them to come out of the "trench" and defending accounts that reach almost 50 billion euros and grow by 22% compared to those of 2023, have not served to convince them. And even more so when, during the debate, the news broke that teachers rejected the unions' agreement with Education. Junts and the CUP have taken the opportunity to attack the executive, while the partners have asked the Government to reopen negotiations.

"I will not run again for ERC if certain conditions are not met," stated Gabriel Rufián at a conference in Madrid a few days ago. The Republican spokesperson in Congress said this after once again defending a common left-wing front and offering himself to lead it. A proposal that the ERC leadership rejects because they do not see it as viable. However, they maintain that Rufián continues to be their choice to lead the list in general elections. The Republican spokesperson, however, assures that to repeat as a candidate, he wants two basic conditions to be met. Which ones? He did not specify them publicly at that conference, but limited himself to talking about the "parliamentary group" and making it clear what they are facing. What does this translate to? The ERC spokesperson in Madrid wants to surround himself with a trusted team and list, but also wants to have more influence on decisions that depend on Madrid. Two conditions that make the party uncomfortable.

It is now known that the end of the Spanish legislature will be a judicial ordeal for the PSOE. As we explain today, there are up to seven open judicial fronts against members of the party or the government, and that's if there are no secret cases underway that could appear at any moment. Many things can be said, but the only certainty is that the legislature began with right-wing protests in the streets and demonstrations by judges against the amnesty law, and it ends with a judicial siege on a party as has not been remembered at least since the end of the Francoist era.

The day Judge José Luis Calama indicted former president José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Oriol Junqueras defended pursuing any "type of corruption", but also warned of possible lawfare: "Always in favor of corruption being pursued and at the same time, I want to recall that some accusations made throughout history were absolutely false and invented." And he gave as an example Jorge Fernández Díaz's "the prosecution will sort it out for you." ERC's spokesperson in Madrid, Gabriel Rufián, also denounced a "witch hunt" against the left, who, despite this, admitted to being "pissed off" by the high regard he has for Zapatero: "If it's true, it's a shame."

The first polls on the May 12 elections, published this Monday in El Español and La Razón, point to a clear victory for the PSC, with a majority of between 36 and 42 seats, and give second place to Junts, which would overtake ERC at the polls. According to these surveys, therefore, Pere Aragonès's party would be the main loser compared to the 2021 elections. The commons could also suffer the consequences of the early elections, protagonists in recent weeks of the legislature for their no

The PSC remains ahead in the polls a month and a half before the 12-M elections. Also in the latest barometer from the Centre d'Estudis d'Opinió (CEO) made public this Thursday, even though the poll was conducted before the announcement by the President of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, of advancing the elections. Be that as it may, if the parliamentary elections were held today, the socialists would revalidate the victory of three years ago and would aim to obtain between 35 and 42 seats, a slight setback compared to the November survey (the November poll) (39-45). Behind them would be ERC, with 26-32 seats and an average rating of its government by Catalans of 4.3 (the same as the Spanish government's). The Republicans see Junts approaching them, which would rise to 24-29 seats. The poll data was collected between February 9 and March 7. Precisely on the last day, the agreement for the amnesty law was materialized and approved in the Justice Commission of the Congress. During this period, the Koldo case also broke out, which implicates the former Minister of Transport, the socialist José Luis Ábalos, and in early February, farmers began to mobilize in the streets.

If there is one thing that defines the budget agreement between ERC and the PSC it is that its fulfillment will basically depend on the Spanish government. Specifically, on the PSOE continuing in La Moncloa. The orbital train line, which should be financed by the corresponding ministry; the investment consortium so that Catalonia has decision-making capacity; the change of statutes in the Zona Franca Consortium; the co-management of airports and, obviously, the transfer of IRPF or the approval of a new regional financing model.

One of the mantras ERC resorts to in defining its relationship with the PSC is that of "gaining sovereignty". The Republicans explain that their agreements are based on achieving more resources, competences, and decision-making capacity for Catalonia. Have they achieved this? For now, through republican and socialist pushes and pulls, they have been unblocking some of the files agreed upon in the investitures of Salvador Illa (2024) and Pedro Sánchez (2023). However, they have found the solution in a mixed formula: establishing companies jointly owned by the Generalitat and the State, where the state administration has a majority.

Rarely (very rarely or never) do you attend the presentation of the same budget project twice in a year. This is what has happened on this occasion in Parliament, where the accounts for the remainder of the fiscal year have been submitted, after they were withdrawn last February due to disagreement with ERC.

After swallowing the bitter pill of withdrawing the first budgets he presented as President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa is now, truly, beginning the path for Parliament to give the green light to the first accounts of the legislature. With the support of ERC and Comuns secured, Illa is ensuring one of his main objectives for the legislature. The accounts for this 2026 will be the Government's first and, perhaps, only ones, because 2027 is an election year, with municipal and general elections in sight, and 2028 is already his last year of the legislature, two scenarios not conducive to negotiating accounts. Therefore, having achieved these budgets, Illa is ensuring, for now, the continuity of the legislature.

After a four-hour debate, Jovent Republicà, the youth wing of ERC, has decided to endorse Salvador Illa's budgets. The vote of deputy Mar Besses, who represents the organization in Parliament, was essential for the accounts to go through. The national council met this afternoon to decide the direction of their vote and, after a long debate, opted to "preserve the unitary space with Esquerra Republicana" and "maintain the direction of the parliamentary group's vote out of responsibility". However, in a statement, the organization admits that the decision implies "assuming important contradictions" and asks ERC to carry out a "profound review" of the investiture agreement and its compliance.

Gabriel Rufián takes another step. The ERC leader in Madrid, who has become a phenomenon for the Spanish left, has shown himself "willing" this Wednesday to lead a new space for the Spanish elections of 2027. In a conference at the Club Siglo XXI in Madrid, reported by Europa Press, the Republican leader ignores the parties' refusal to join this option and insists on his path: the unity of the left in the upcoming elections. Until now, he had not opened himself to directly heading this eventual new space, which the Esquerra leadership in Barcelona completely rejects.

The State and the Generalitat have signed this Wednesday the agreements with ERC for the Catalan budgets at the Bilateral Commission they held in Madrid, which lasted less than an hour. The Republicans set this condition to have a guarantee of compliance with the pacts that depend on Pedro Sánchez's executive, among which is the creation of an investment company, that is, a company that will be approved by the Council of Ministers during this 2026 and will be participated by both administrations. This company will serve to "provide greater agility, flexibility and operational capacity" for the execution of studies, projects and works linked to infrastructures and other public investments, as the Government explained in a press release. In parallel, however, they are not giving up on the possibility of moving forward with a "State-Generalitat parity consortium for investments" which would depend on the Ministry of Transport. For this to prosper, however, it requires the approval of Congress, where the proposal derailed a few weeks ago due to the opposing vote of Junts.

Conversations had been on track for days, but the Government did not want to formalize an agreement until after the Andalusian elections. Well, it was just the next day when Esquerra officially gave its yes to Salvador Illa's first budget after explaining the pact first to the executive, and then to the national council. Salvador Illa and Oriol Junqueras will sign the agreement this Tuesday at the Palau de la Generalitat. The pact has not been put to a vote, but according to various sources consulted, and the party has "informed" the national councilors of the pact's content.It is in the national council meeting where the voices of the party's critics have been heard. With ERC's yes, the Government only has to finish negotiating with the Commons on the updating of its pact.

Esquerra had agreed on three issues to reach an agreement on Salvador Illa's budgets. On the one hand, the orbital railway line which, as explained by ARA last Monday, socialists and republicans have reached an agreement to materialize it in the next fifteen years. On the other hand, the commercial company that is to oversee state investments has also been agreed upon. And there was a third issue, a transfer that ERC had not yet revealed and that it is finishing closing with the socialists. Well, it concerns the Consorci de la Zona Franca: PSC and Esquerra are finalizing an agreement so that Catalonia will have the majority of the entity, which until now was entirely state-owned, according to what Agencia Efe has reported and ARA has confirmed.

Before talking about the signing of the budget agreement between Illa and Junqueras, this morning we had two bombshell news. The Mossos d'Esquadra have arrested Jonathan Andic, the son of Mango founder Isak Andic, for the death of his father, who died at 71 while hiking in the Salnitre caves. Although initially treated as an accident, a few months ago the Mossos began investigating Andic's son for homicide, who was the only person with whom the businessman was that day. And while we were still processing the news, the political bombshell arrived: Zapatero has been charged with influence peddling, criminal organization, and document forgery in the case of the Plus Ultra airline bailout. The company was bailed out by Sánchez's government during the pandemic with a loan of 53 million euros. Now the National Court is charging Zapatero for having influenced (having received a commission of 10 million, deposited in an account in Panama) this bailout. He has always denied it, and Sánchez has always said the bailout was done correctly. The group that reported Zapatero was the far-right group Manos Limpias. Today, his office was searched, and he will have to appear to testify in 15 days. The first pieces of evidence, which became known this morning when the secrecy of the investigation was lifted, do not seem very solid. He is the first former Spanish president to be charged in Spain (Rajoy has been charged in Andorra). The impact for Sánchez is huge: they are friends, Zapatero supports him - unlike Felipe González -, and if we add to this the result in Andalusia, the funeral in Moncloa continues today. And I would bet anything that within 24 hours someone will remember that Zapatero was negotiating with Puigdemont (like Santos Cerdán). Meanwhile, this morning, at 8 o'clock, President Salvador Illa and Oriol Junqueras were at the Palau de la Generalitat and shook hands again, as a prelude to the photo of the day, that of the signing of the agreement between the Government and Esquerra Republicana by which Junqueras' party will approve the 2026 budgets of Illa's government. These are days of handshakes. Yesterday they already had the first one in Sant Sadurní d'Anoia at the presentation of the orbital train.As always, when a party gives a vote as important as the budget vote to a government, the debate is whether it has settled for little or a lot. Especially since Esquerra is an independentist party and the PSC is not, and it enthusiastically supported 155. Firstly, I think no one should be surprised that Esquerra or Comuns approve accounts for the PSC, because the most important agreement was already made, which is the investiture. If there was any incoherence in ERC's support for the PSC, it was then, not now. I believe that if you vote for someone's investiture, you have an obligation to cooperate with them during the legislature that other parties do not have. Whoever invests is saying they see potential. The fact is that for some time now, we have naturally accepted that, for example, next year there will be no budgets because there are municipal and Spanish elections and, of course, parties cannot support each other. Perhaps this is what is done nowadays, but I find it very selfish on the part of the parties. From this point of view, it is normal for Esquerra to give its vote to the Government. 

The agreement between the Govern and ERC for the 2026 budgets, the first of Salvador Illa's presidency, is now signed. The president and Oriol Junqueras have signed the document in a brief ceremony early this morning at the Palau de la Generalitat, after the Republicans formally gave their yes to the accounts this Monday. The Minister of Economy, Alícia Romero, has given all the details in a press conference early this morning and Junqueras will appear later, around half past eleven.