The historian Josep Maria Muñoz has just published An infinite sorrow (Arcadia), in which he reviews the last half-century of Catalan politics and Catalonia's failed attempts to reformulate the State with the recognition of its national identity.

Fifty years later, we're still dealing with it. monothemeToday's Spain bears little resemblance to that of half a century ago, when the dictator died in his bed. Neither the Church nor the army wields their power, and a profound social and economic transformation has taken place. Basque terrorism is also a thing of the past. What, then, remains of the endemic problems inherited from the 19th century and fossilized by the 20th-century dictatorships? The same old age-old issue: the Catalan elephant in the Spanish room.

Former general coordinator of IU (1989-2000) Julio Anguita has been clear this Thursday in relation to the Catalan process. In a conversation with journalists at the UB before the presentation of the book 'Atraco a la memoria' about his political life, written by the historian Juan AndradeAnguita has shown himself convinced that "But he doesn't want independence", but one "free associated state" in the Spanish State, with which they even share the King as head of state.

The serious noise of the slow armoured doors that close behind the prisoners, the walls, the plastic sheeting, the counts, the isolation, is left behind. And it is good news. With a face of happiness or a serious one, debating on what role to adopt after the pardon, the nine pro-independence politicians sentenced by the Supreme Court are on the street. In Belgium, Puigdemont, Comín and Puig, and Clara Ponsatí in Scotland, maintain the European legal pulse and await a sentence that allows them to put Spanish justice in evidence and pave the way for their return. Jaume Asens' strategy of promoting the reform of the crime of sedition is advancing and could bring the solution closer for the exiles, whom today a part of the Spanish judiciary and politics would like to see imprisoned and then throw the key to the sea.

Neither the German courts, nor the Scottish or Belgian courts have so far accepted the arguments of the Supreme Court to extradite the exiles of the Procés. The last to do so was the Belgian Court of Appeal, the second judicial instance, which in January again denied the extradition of the ex Catalan minister of Culture Lluís Puig. Now, the investigating magistrate, Pablo Llarena, intends to put a stop to it by raising the case to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) with a preliminary ruling to clarify the limits that state courts have to reject extraditions. The refusal to extradite Puig is firm because the Belgian prosecutor's office renounced to file an appeal, so Llarena's intention is that the CJEU sets the basis for the resolution of the next Euro-orders, which are already being prepared for when Carles Puigdemont, Toni Comín and Clara Ponsatí lose immunity in the European Parliament.