"The espadrille or the swastika. You choose." The question was asked in an article this very week by the former president of the Generalitat and leader of Junts, Carles Puigdemont, after in the Parliament chamber Junts, ERC, CUP and Comuns displayed the famous poster "Let's crush fascism", created in 1936 by the photographer and publicist Pere Català i Pic. Well, there is at least one Junts councilor who chooses the swastika. It is Roger Pinart, second deputy mayor of Port de la Selva, who has published a clear message on social media. "In this case, swastika", he wrote on X, responding to Junts' unequivocally anti-fascist post: "Against hate, now and always. With President Companys, now and always".

Now, the Catalan national right is turning the page. It seems that the hangover from the Procés is considered over. If President Illa captured the need for detente that existed in Catalan society when independence movement hit its limits, it now seems that conservative Catalanism sees that the time has come to reconfigure the traditional dialectic between right and left (with the national question in the background), before melancholy makes them lose their footing, opening the way for alternatives outside their control.

President Illa has decided to break the monotony, conscious, perhaps, that it was trapping him. His restrained tone was rewarded during the bewilderment of the 'Procés' aftermath and, by making a virtue of calm, he grasped the country's need to lower the tone and take a pause. With this criterion, and with his rejection of shrillness, Illa has been making progress, at a time when the exercise of conjuncturally assuming the framework of the possible seemed to be imposing itself.

The final stretch of the legislature will surely have more interest than one might have thought months ago, especially for Catalonia and Catalan politics. Obviously, Pedro Sánchez's government will suffer because it is very unlikely that it will manage to approve the budget bill it has again committed to presenting this year. And surely the Ceuta crisis still has a long way to go. But there is another goal that could be achieved during the coming weeks. It concerns the application of the amnesty law to Puigdemont and the other members of his executive who are awaiting the rulings that the Constitutional Court must issue on this matter. It is certainly true that the Supreme Court would never have applied the amnesty law on its own to the leader of Junts, but in this final stretch of the legislature there is a concatenation of circumstances that make what had until now been impossible seem plausible.

Aliança Catalana presented last Wednesday the lawyer Meritxell Feliu as mayoral candidate for Lleida, who was on the Junts lists in the last European elections after having been a member of Unió and Demòcrates. And on Friday, the Islamophobic party announced what is its latest candidate, Lluís Areny, who will lead the list in Sant Quirze del Vallès. Although in the last elections he ran for an independent list, Areny, the party's communications secretary, was a member of Junts from 2018 to 2021.

It closed the course with a summit of mayors and local officials, with some unease, and opens it with the uncertainty generated by a host of open questions. Junts will begin the political year next week looking towards Waterloo. Beyond awaiting the application of the amnesty, crucial decisions for the immediate future of the formation still need to be untangled. At present, sources from Junts' leadership state that no extraordinary congress is planned to make changes to the party, despite rumors in some sectors, nor an imminent meeting to make major decisions by the Junts leadership.

With the Ceuta crisis, immigration has become the central issue of Spanish politics. In this context, Junts has once again brought up the transfer of powers in this matter to the Generalitat. For the Junts members, who consider that Catalonia does not have the capacity to increase its population further, it is necessary for the Catalan government to manage the entry, integration, or expulsion of immigrants. The initiative failed in Congress due to Podem's opposition, but this Tuesday Junts has re-registered it with a gesture towards Ione Belarra's party: it has changed the preamble, which Podem considered "racist". A change that does not resolve the discrepancies with Podem, as it maintains the veto arguing that the problem is the norm as a whole.

The Spanish right wing lives in anticipation of some catastrophe that will bring down Sánchez's government. They have been like this for eight years, and it's not that opportunities have been lacking: pandemic, wars, crises, natural disasters caused by fire and water, etc. There is also the corruption of the PSOE, which exists, but here they have the problem of the corruption of the right wing itself, which exists to a greater extent because it is structural. And finally there is immigration, which serves this type of right-wing to stir up hatreds, fears, and base instincts. With the crisis driven last week by Mohamed VI, halfway with Trump and Netanyahu, PP and Vox thought their opportunity had finally arrived, especially when some European countries appeared (ultraconservative Finland and the Italy of the fascist Meloni) that cried out to the heavens and even spoke of closing the Schengen area (which, by the way, is impossible, as no member state of the European Union can do it unilaterally). However, once again it did not quite work out for them. Some paid agitators, like Vito Quiles or Alvise Pérez, had to be escorted out of Ceuta by the police (in other places, like Palma, instead of protecting them, the agents prefer to beat citizens). Abascal, acting as a glorious admiral aboard a passenger ferry that he tried to pass off as a war frigate, managed to lose the patience even of the ultra Jiménez Losantos, who reproached him for his lack of patriotism. On the PP's side, the comic duo formed by Tellado and Feijóo has once again stammered their catastrophic discourse, which is already predictable and routine. Finally, Marlaska attended the meeting with the other European Interior ministers, and instead of a scolding, he managed to get general support.Faced with this failure, they have moved on to the second phase of the plan, which consists of initially resisting the reception of the quota of minors rescued in Ceuta corresponding to each autonomous community. The communities governed by the PP, many of them together with Vox, wanted to close themselves off in advance to receiving these minors (although they will eventually comply with the law, as they are also obliged to do so). Junts is added to this, which once again threatens Sánchez with withdrawing all support if he decides to send immigrant minors to Catalonia. It is the right wing that refuses to welcome, with a supposed discourse of protection of its own national integrity, or territorial, or whatever it may be, but which in reality is only a discourse of xenophobia and aporophobia, the hatred of the poor. In the case of Junts, it is somewhat pitiful to see them wallowing in this quagmire — so disrespectful of Pujol's thinking, which was always open to immigration — just to compete with the little fascists with espadrilles and carquinyolis from Aliança Catalana. As for Europe, the absence of a democratic right-wing leader like Merkel, who eleven years ago opened Germany to nearly a million people, mostly fleeing the war in Syria, is intensely felt. What a decline, in these eleven years, for the European right wing.

The Spanish government plans to activate all available mechanisms to respond to unaccompanied migrant minors who entered Ceuta from Morocco by swimming and are currently in the autonomous city. The Ceuta executive estimates there are "a thousand": "We cannot give an exact figure because the process of locating [the minors] and integrating them into the protection system is still ongoing," indicated the spokesperson for the local government of Ceuta, Alejandro Ramírez, this Tuesday at a press conference. Among these mechanisms is the distribution of unaccompanied children and adolescents among the autonomous communities, as pointed out by the spokesperson for the Spanish government, Elma Saiz, and confirmed by sources from the Ministry of Childhood led by Sira Rego. However, this approach has already put the right-wing on alert.

The Council of Statutory Guarantees (CGE) ruled this Tuesday, unanimously, that the bill to limit the speculative purchase of housing, presented by Comuns, violates the right to private property, inheritance, and freedom of enterprise. Furthermore, the consultative body – whose resolutions are not binding – concludes that processing it by a single reading contravenes Article 138 of the Parliament's Regulations, which governs this express procedure, and Article 23.2 of the Constitution, which refers to citizens' right to access public functions and positions in conditions of equality. The ruling also adds a third pillar of unconstitutionality: it considers that the key article of the proposal encroaches on the State's exclusive competence over the bases of contractual obligations. Faced with this scenario, the Minister of Territory, Housing and Ecological Transition, Sílvia Paneque, has assured that the Government will seek "all legal measures [...] to protect the right to housing in Catalonia" in accordance with the Statute.

New resignation at Junts: Jaume Giró tears up his party card. The former Minister of Economy has decided to resign as a member after he left all his positions in the party's executive and also his seat as deputy a year ago, as reported by Nació Digital and confirmed by ARA. Sources from Junts consulted by this newspaper explain that Giró communicated the decision to President Carles Puigdemont a few days ago, although they have not wanted to explain the reasons. Giró's departure is added to that of the former secretary of the Parliament's board, Eusebi Campdepadrós, who, as the ARA reported this Monday, he also resigned as a member on July 27, after the amnesty was applied to him, even though he had been distant from the party for months.

Eusebi Campdepadrós, former secretary of the Parliament's bureau, leaves Junts. As ARA has been able to learn, Campdepadrós communicated his decision to the party's executive a few days ago, on July 27, when he announced that he was leaving the formation after the Supreme Court had applied the amnesty to him. He considered, in this way, that his political stage had ended. Contacted by ARA, the now former Junts militant did not wish to make any statements on the matter.

Junts per Catalunya formalized this Monday its integration into the European Democratic Party (PDE), an adhesion that had been being finalized for months as the ARA advanced. With this step, the party led by Carles Puigdemont closes a long period of political orphanhood on the Old Continent, which dated back to 2018. It was that year when the PDECat was expelled from the Party of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) under pressure from Ciutadans and in a context marked by accusations of corruption against the formation then led by David Bonvehí for the 3% case.

Not very noisy, but the electoral drums are beginning to be heard. The elections to the Parliament of Catalonia are still far off on the calendar, but in 2027 we will have a first test in the municipal elections and, who knows, perhaps there could be legislative elections in the State sooner than expected. Meanwhile, the polls that are being published are beginning to show some important underlying movements. One of these is the progressive decline of Junts, indicated by multiple surveys. In the May 2024 elections, Junts obtained second place, with 21.59% of the votes, while in the latest survey by the Centre d’Estudis d’Opinió, estimates attributed between 11% and 13% of the votes to them (and a loss of about 18 seats).

Ten days after leaving Girona's municipal government, Junts has made a significant announcement for the upcoming municipal elections in the city. Alongside Gemma Geis, who will repeat as the head of the list, Carles Puigdemont's party has confirmed the incorporation of Carles Ribas as number two. A former member of Convergència and a councilor during Marta Madrenas's term, Ribas ran four years ago with his own brand, ARA Girona, but narrowly missed entering City Hall after obtaining 1,579 votes (4.6%). These were insufficient to surpass the 5% threshold to obtain a councilor but were key to understanding that Junts lost half of its votes in the last municipal elections. Ribas is currently part of the Partit Nacionalista de Catalunya (PNC), founded by Marta Pascual, and will run in the city in coalition with Junts x Girona.

The emergence of Aliança Catalana (AC) in Parliament and the growth predicted by demography have led Junts to move to try to stem the vote leakage that polls foresee towards Sílvia Orriols' party. And it has done so mainly on immigration matters. Although Carles Puigdemont's formation has not yet presented its immigration plan —it has been delayed without any public explanation, but it coincides with the fact that a part of the party considers that the focus should not be placed on Aliança's framework—, it has made moves both in Parliament and in Congress, as well as in municipalities. What steps has it taken?

With the ECJ's endorsement still present and the day after former president Carles Puigdemont denounced Spain to the European Commission for non-compliance with the law, separatism has taken advantage of the last control session with the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, to pressure him, but above all to bring back his hemeroteca. This has been done by the leader of Junts in the Parliament, Mònica Sales, when she told him: "First he said "no amnesty or anything like that"". Shortly after, the head of ERC in the chamber, Josep Maria Jové, was added, who asked him to "remember": "You didn't want it." The President of the Generalitat avoided engaging and defended looking "forward": "An amnesty was necessary so that negotiations could be normalized in Catalonia.

Businesswoman Anna Navarro, who was Carles Puigdemont's great bet in the 2024 elections, is leaving Parliament. In a statement, Junts has announced that the party's number two candidate has resigned her seat, taking advantage of the end of the current session. She did so during a meeting of the parliamentary group, citing "personal and professional" reasons, according to the text released by the party. Navarro, however, will remain linked to the organization: she will continue to be part of Junts' permanent leadership and executive committee. Before making it public, she had communicated her decision to the party leader, Secretary General Jordi Turull, and the parliamentary group leader, Mònica Sales. During this legislature, Navarro had not played a prominent role in Parliament or in the party's major day-to-day decisions, despite being presented at the time as the Junts' great signing.  

In Junts, the polls have not been good for some time in general. It is not only the latest CEO barometer, but since Salvador Illa's investiture as president, everything has been going downhill. This situation was discussed at the summit last Monday, reported by ARA, in which the secretary general, Jordi Turull, convened about twenty leaders, including mayors and heads of lists from regional capitals. "The party is doing well in Madrid, but not in Catalonia," was one of the most repeated phrases at the summit, according to various sources consulted. And it is not new: a large part of the party considers that Junts is functioning correctly in Congress, but not in Parliament. What is the criticism?

The World Cup final between Spain and Argentina this Sunday has highlighted the different stances within the independence movement regarding support for the Spanish national football team, a debate that already occurred during Euro 2024. But the insistence with which some of its leaders have come out in recent days with open shows of support for la roja has reopened a debate that the sovereignty movement has never fully resolved: what to do when Spain wins?