This afternoon, Esquerra's spokesperson in Madrid, Gabriel Rufián, will present in Barcelona his proposal for a broad left-wing front, which he already presented in Madrid in February. He will be accompanied by Irene Montero, from Podem, but neither Oriol Junqueras nor Elisenda Alamany will be there.And they won't be there because they don't agree with Rufián's proposal to unite everything to the left of the PSOE to curb the far-right. Basically, because Esquerra's objective is to replace the socialists in Catalonia, not to position itself to their left. In the same way that for many years, and still now, first Convergència and then Junts occupied in Catalonia part of the space that the PP occupies in Spain, Esquerra has always wanted to get ahead of the PSC, and therefore Junqueras finds, to put it in current terms, that this is not his war, that if Podem or Sumar or Més Madrid have a representation problem, they will deal with it themselves.From here comes the headline of this chronicle, which is that Rufián is once again testing ERC's patience, and to be more precise, Junqueras', who said that he did not spend four years in prison to put Ada Colau as a candidate. The party leadership has seen how Rufián has started to fly solo, has created his own political and personal brand by expressing himself as if he were the critical conscience of the Spanish left, and goes so far as to recall that he lives in the Basque Country and works in Madrid but does not visit Catalonia much. The situation is ironic, because Rufián is a political creation of Junqueras, the personification of an intuition: for Esquerra to enter the metropolitan area of Barcelona, it was necessary to have a candidate who was like the majority of metropolitan voters. The bet was disruptive and it worked. Precisely because of this, Junqueras still needs Rufián with one year to go until the municipal elections. And Rufián obviously needs Esquerra for his project of left-wing synthesis throughout Spain.Meanwhile, this morning President Illa received Minister Puente at the Palau de la Generalitat, amid smiles of complicity. Puente's reluctance with the chaos of Renfe and Adif in Catalonia is shown by the fact that Illa and Puente concluded this meeting taking advantage of the minister's presence in Barcelona because yesterday evening he attended the presentation of the first edition of the Aena literary awards. The Secretary of State who came to live in Catalonia left after a month. The problems that were supposed to be solved in April are now said to be solved in June. Ila's government has discovered that it was not so easy to solve problems through good governance and reconciliation with Spain, thanks to having an allied government in Madrid. Neither with Rodalies, nor with financing, nor with almost anything. Good morning.

A well-known economist assured me this week that there would be a Catalan government budget for 2026. He was very convinced. In fact, he had no doubt whatsoever, after applying game theory, a branch of mathematics used to model situations involving negotiation, conflict, competition, cooperation, and other similar interactions. This theory aims to determine the best possible strategy for each player and the expected outcome of each situation. Games can be zero-sum (the gains or losses of some players are offset by the gains or losses of others) or non-zero-sum, meaning everyone can win or lose.

Albert Dalmau (Barcelona, 1990) visits l'ARA after a week in which, despite everything, the Government has saved a match ball and has gained time to approve the budgets.The government yesterday made a gesture quite unprecedented in Catalan political history, which is the withdrawal of the budgets. Is it a tactical withdrawal?

The president of the Generalitat (Catalan government) has posted a video on Instagram reacting to a clip published by Flaixbac. The video shows a group of young people attending the Saló de l'Ensenyament (Education Fair) being asked, "Who is the current president of the Generalitat of Catalonia?" Among the incorrect answers were names like Salvador Espriu, Joan Pera, Salvador Dalí, Jaume Collboni, and Pedro Sánchez, which they uttered amidst awkward laughter.

Any news we discuss here must be understood within the context of a war that increasingly affects us. War first in Ukraine, and now in Iran and Lebanon. The price of oil has climbed again, and we know that when gasoline goes up, everything else goes up. Our economy currently depends on two politicians, Netanyahu in Israel and Trump in the United States, who don't care about any of this because war gives them free rein to do whatever they want. For example, Israel has attacked the world's largest gas fieldSo this war, which the United States has called "Epic Fury," is bringing us epic inflation and epic disaster, like everything Trump's inept finger touches, especially when he lets himself be swayed by the Israeli lobby and trusts his intuition more than his generals. It's becoming clearer every day that the United States won't bring down the ayatollahs' regime with bombings and targeted assassinations.

This is evidence that Catalonia needs a new budget after two extensions. It is also evidence that the negotiating strategies of the PSC and ERC to reach an agreement had reached a dead end. With the Catalan government's decision to withdraw the budget proposal (a gesture unprecedented in Catalan politics) and ERC's announcement that it is willing to negotiate without red lines, the situation has been unblocked, and a possible agreement before the summer is now in sight.

John von Neumann was not particularly fond of lanterns –Deception—in poker games—but the father of Game Theory recognized its usefulness in keeping any zero-sum negotiation on edge. Of course, he also warned that one had to know how to play them. To begin with, the success of any lantern It depends on whether the other party—Von Neumann's study focused primarily on two-way negotiations—can consider it plausible. And this is precisely where the negotiating strategy between ERC and PSC regarding the 2026 budget has failed. Salvador Illa set a deadline, March 20, for the Republicans to stop dragging their feet and engaging in a game of chicken—another concept from Game Theory, which explains that both sides move toward the precipice without wanting to be the first to concede—that has ended in a stalemate. The PSC and ERC have given each other more time because it was the only way to ensure that no one loses.

This morning, around eight o'clock, the Catalan Government and Esquerra Republicana staged the pact they reached last night, which we discussed yesterday in our analysis and which we anticipated this morning in the print edition of ARA:

Salvador Illa decided to push ahead after ERC's refusal to negotiate the budget and presented the bill two weeks ago without having the Republicans' support guaranteed. This pressure tactic against Oriol Junqueras' party failed to budge them from their position: the Republicans had maintained their red line for beginning negotiations unless the Spanish government made a gesture of ceding control over income tax revenue. The budget was headed for failure this Friday, as Esquerra would have voted for its amendment to the entire bill, thus causing it to collapse. To avoid defeat, Salvador Illa decided to withdraw the budget this Wednesday. as some sources consulted by the ARA pointed outand give negotiations with the Republicans another chance. However, Esquerra has also shifted its position and no longer refers to income tax as a condition. sine qua non to negotiate the budget. "It's a very important condition," Oriol Junqueras stated when journalists asked him if it remained an "essential" condition, as it had been until now. In fact, Esquerra has opened itself to negotiating an alternative proposal to the Personal Income Tax (IRPF) if the Catalan Government puts one on the table. The target date for a new budget is before the summer.

Teachers are continuing their week-long strikes today, and this morning they received the support of farmers in the Terres de l'Ebre region. There are so many sectoral grievances (teachers, peasants, Renfe users(public healthcare users, those aspiring to rent an apartment…) that the unease is widespread. And if you look up at the world, this unease transforms into anguish, not only because of the price of oil or making ends meet—which is a real struggle—but also because of the survival of democracy and, at times, of humanity itself. This is the socio-emotional portrait of society right now. We all operate within this ecosystem of general malaise.

How much should presidents be paid? In Catalonia, it has historically been decided that the salary of the President of the Generalitat should be among the highest in the State. In fact, for years the President of the Generalitat has occupied the first position in the ranking. Carles Ramió, a professor of political science at Pompeu Fabra University, warns that the debate about politicians' salaries tends to be full of demagoguery and points to the need to have well-paid public servants to attract talent and avoid pernicious dynamics. Furthermore, he recalls that all figures are gross, meaning that tax withholdings make the net figure substantially lower.The draft budget for 2026 foresees that the salary of the head of the executive, Salvador Illa, will increase by 6,378.88 euros, rising from the 140,256.96 euros he received last year to 146,635.84 annually. To put this into perspective, the Basque Lehendakari, Imanol Pradales, second in the ranking, receives 117,243.14 euros, while the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, in third position, earns 103,090.32 euros. The gap is even wider when we look towards Moncloa: the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, has a salary of 95,943.96 euros, almost 51,000 euros less than Illa.This hierarchy is also maintained at the second tier. A minister of the Generalitat of Catalonia earns 130,049.36 euros, exceeding the 104,512.94 euros of a minister from the Basque Country or the 103,080.48 euros of their Madrid counterparts.Beyond the Government: where are the highest salaries found?If we look at the legislative chambers, the presidencies of the Cortes Generales and the Parliament of Catalonia represent the highest peaks. According to data from the remuneration registry, the president of the Parliament of Catalonia, Josep Rull, will receive 151,995.48 euros in 2026, while in Spain, the president of the Congress, Francina Armengol, earns 230,911.66 euros and the president of the Senate, Pedro Rollán, earns 191,240.42 euros.However, where are the highest salaries in the public sector? In Spain, public companies and regulatory bodies top the list. The three highest salaries are practically identical and correspond to the presidency of Loterías de l'Estat (252,474.97 euros), SEPI (251,242.18), and CESCE (251,530). In Catalonia, while the artistic director of the TNC, the general director, and the president of Ferrocarrils top the podium with 125,001.76 euros, these do not exceed the president's figures.Change of mind"I will make a commitment: I will lower the salary of the President of the Generalitat to the highest salary of a regional president other than Catalonia, which is that of the Lehendakari. It is a 30% reduction, to be close to the people." This was one of the proposals made by Salvador Illa during the 2021 election campaign. Although he was the most voted, he could not govern in that legislature, and in the following election campaign, that of 2024, he no longer repeated this commitment.In 2021, the president's remuneration was at its historical maximum, 153,236 euros, with Quim Torra at the head of the Generalitat. His successor, Pere Aragonès, , bringing it down to 130,251 euros. Since then, it has been revalued to maintain purchasing power.Faced with criticism for this change of opinion, Illa defended himself last Wednesday in Parliament, stating before the Plenary: "The increase [foreseen in the budgets] is what has been applied to all public servants in Catalonia, and I am a public servant of Catalonia." This increase is a result of the application of the legal framework that links the salaries of senior officials to the increases agreed for all civil servants.Paying little can be expensiveThe debate about public salaries is not just a matter of figures. Ramió warns that demagoguery about low salaries has a hidden cost: the difficulty in attracting competent managers. According to the political scientist, "for every two or three proposals they make for a minister, they often say no" because, fundamentally, "compared to the market and considering the responsibility, the salary is very low." If the public sector is not competitive, Ramió states, it risks being left in the hands of unprofessional profiles.Ramió also warns of two other risks associated with low salaries. When pressure and responsibility are extreme, but the remuneration is "ridiculous," it opens the door, in his opinion, to corruption. And, as a final reflection, he invites us to consider the model of the "rich politician" who doesn't need a salary, personified by Donald Trump. He ironically states that if the goal is to pay the minimum, "the best president in the world is Donald Trump, because he only earns a dollar a year." But the risk of this mirage is high: "What do we want? For politics to be done only by the rich?"

ERC invested Salvador Illa and Pedro Sánchez, and it is true that the only way for the Republicans to have any influence at the moment is for both of them to remain at the head of their governments. Esquerra has often been criticized for easily caving in to the demands of the PSC and PSOE, and these criticisms have often been justified. This baggage likely played a role in Illa's decision to force the legislature's hand by putting the Generalitat's budget to a vote – next Friday – without having finalized the agreement with his most important partner.

Let me start with a piece of news that shouldn't be news, but you'll soon understand why I'm opening the analysis with it: 50 days after the fatal accident in Gelida, Trains ran between Ripoll and La Garriga this morning.For now, there will be one train per direction every hour, with speed limits on sections where risks still exist. The alternative road service that has been in place for the last month and a half will continue. Applause, and that's about it.

All eyes are on the door of the Sant Jordi Hall when, a few minutes after 6 p.m., the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, and the leader of ERC, Oriol Junqueras, enter together, accompanied by the President of the Parliament, Josep Rull. They do so practically without looking at each other until they sit in the front row of the hall where the event marking the start of the Year of Irla is being held. There has been no meeting between Junqueras and Illa, and much of the informal conversations before it began had to do with the negotiations between the Socialists and the Republicans. The event is to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Irla's birth, but the budgets are the elephant in the room of the Sant Jordi Hall.

Trump's word is worthlessBut it does come at a price, the price we all must pay for his decisions. Aware that The war with Iran has driven up oil prices and lowered stock markets.That is, that his voters have to pay more for gasoline and that his friends are losing billions in the stock market, Trump took the floor last night to say that The war is "virtually over" And that they are far ahead of the agenda they had set, that Iran "has already fired all it was supposed to fire." And Trump's words had the desired effect: the stock markets rose this morning and the price of oil fell. If this is a fluke that won't make a summer, Trump doesn't care. Yesterday he went for the coup, but he knows there are two things ordinary Americans hate: paying higher gas prices and having inflation erode their purchasing power, all because of a war that lacks the support of the vast majority. Consider that these days oil has reached its highest price in the last three and a half years, specifically in the summer of 2022, months after the war in Ukraine began, and that the cost of living is shaping up to be the major issue in the November elections. And we all know that when oil goes up, everything goes up.

A week after the United States and Israel's attack on Iran, and given the uncertain consequences that this war may entail, Salvador Illa met this Saturday with unions and employers in an extraordinary meeting. He did so within the framework of the Council for Social Dialogue of Catalonia to reassure the Catalan productive fabric and commit to taking the necessary measures to face the possible economic consequences of the war. A commitment that, in fact, has also been demanded by the representatives of Foment, Pimec, CCOO, and UGT. Illa also took advantage of the meeting to defend the need for budgets in 2026 and sent another message of pressure to ERC: "We cannot block Catalonia. Today's stability has a name: budgets".

A failed budget marked the end of Pere Aragonès's government exactly two years ago. Now, Salvador Illa faces a resounding defeat in the Catalan Parliament, and speculation has begun about whether the conflict will also end at the ballot box. except CommonsThe other parliamentary groups, including ERC, have submitted amendments to the entire budget. The Catalan government (Palau de la Generalitat) is avoiding this scenario and reiterates that having a budget is "plan A, B, and C." Negotiations remain stalled, and now the Republicans are even talking about June as a possible timeframe for unblocking them—provided the central government and the Moncloa Palace commit to transferring the personal income tax revenue. This Saturday, the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, again pressured ERC to agree to approve the budget given the context of the war in the Middle East and its potential economic consequences. In an address to the Catalan Social Dialogue Council—which includes representatives from unions and employers' associations—Illa asked the Republicans to "rise to the occasion of this extraordinary moment the world is experiencing." "They are the best social safety net," he declared.

Soviet accounts, a model of country conditioned by the "extreme left" or a government surrendered to "communism". These are some of the qualifications that Junts, PP and Vox have dedicated in recent weeks to the PSC executive following its budget agreement with Comuns, who have extracted from the socialists the commitment to veto speculative housing purchases and go one step further in public intervention in the real estate market. They are variations of a criticism that is gaining more and more strength in the right sector of the hemicycle and that also has its echo in the discourse of Foment del Treball, which has also labeled as "pro-communist" these policies.

The war in Iran that began on Saturday It's much more than a backdrop to our everyday lives. It's not that conflict we see images of but that remains distant from us, because It has the potential to complicate our daily livesAnd a lot: the price of oil and gas has increased, there are disruptions in international trade, global insecurity has increased, France has reminded Iran – and the whole world in general – that it has a nuclear arsenal.

"It is a degrading fact". This is how blunt the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, was when asked about the burqa in his first interview after his medical leave. The head of the Catalan executive was positioning himself on a topic that Vox has introduced into the media agenda, and which gained traction when the PP announced it would support the ban in Congress. Junts distanced itself, but counterattacked with its own proposal in the same direction, something that ERC also began to study a few days later. And in the same way that Vox has placed the debate on the burqa in the spotlight in Congress, Aliança Catalana has brought it to Parliament. Who has not yet taken any steps forward is the PSC. What do the socialists think about this debate?