1. A possible summary of the situation. Spain has told Catalonia that it will never have independence. Judicial, police, political, and media repression made that abundantly clear, and we are still paying the price. And a referendum on self-determination? Never. The obtuse State has also told us that quite plainly. And a special economic agreement, at least? Never. They should have asked for it back then, as the Basques and Navarrese did. And special funding, then? Never. We have already seen how the extreme right, Feijóo's lying right wing, and the... have responded in a cascade. males The most re-established members of the PSOE. If necessary, then, and so as not to offend so many people, we'll call it special funding, even though it isn't. Right? Not quite. We already saw this Sunday the response from the presidents of the autonomous communities where the PP governs. They prefer to give up billions of euros for services for their people rather than allow Catalonia to live somewhat better. That's how absurd and how outrageous it is. And, while we're at it, how about a principle of ordinality? Not a chance. Theory can withstand anything, but in practice, Spain doesn't want to allow a system of solidarity where the third-highest contributor is the third-highest recipient. Why? Because it's not fair to say that Catalonia could ever benefit from anything. Faced with the "everyone wins" argument that Minister Montero uses to defend the new funding model, the Socialist president of Castilla-La Mancha is calling for "the complete abandonment of this attempt at blackmail and granting privileges to the separatists." What privileges?

At the heart of the independence movement was the desire to relegate identity-based and victim-blaming nationalism—in other words, the worst face of Pujolism, the Ferrussola face—to the background. The key contribution in this regard, from the intellectual sphere, came from the philosopher Xavier Rubert de Ventós, with his work From identity to independence, from 1999, a decade before the start of the Process. That book had a foreword by his friend Pasqual Maragall, who still declared himself a federalist. Over the years, Rubert de Ventós's essay would end up leading Maragallism and part of the PSC to pro-sovereignty positions.

Ultraconservative nationalism is on the rise. We can quickly see it by mentioning a few names: Trump, Orbán, Milei... It is in this context that historian Eric Storm (Netherlands, 1966) published Nationalisms, a world history (Crítica), a book that doesn't focus on a single country or continent, but rather, as its name suggests, examines the history of nationalism worldwide in an exhaustive work that allows us to draw the similarities that exist between regions and understand why it is advancing worldwide.

From Cornellà del Terri, where former president Carles Puigdemont voted on 1-O, Junts held its event this Tuesday night to commemorate the eighth anniversary of the October 1 referendum. Under the slogan "Committed to 1-O," the Junts members demanded "the validity of the referendum mandate" after the independence movement lost its majority in the Catalan Parliament and have called for "finishing the job." To this end, Puigdemont called for "protection" of the formula that made 1-O possible and claimed three "ingredients" that, in his opinion, made it possible: unity, transversality—without considering "what those on our side think, what their origins are, or what religion they profess"—and a vision for the future. A message that Puigdemont repeated this Wednesday in a message on X: "It is imperative that we preserve the formula of October 1, because it is the one that leads to victory." Puigdemont defended October 1st as a "historical heritage" and the "foundation stone for building a future of freedom."

Eight years after the events of October 2017, there is still no clear consensus on what the so-called Process was. This period began with the 2012 Diada, the first organized by the ANC, and can officially be considered over on May 12, 2024, when the majority of the independence movement loses. During this period, with varying intensity, the debate over independence and the self-determination referendum dominated the Catalan and, to some extent, Spanish political agendas. There is no doubt that the culminating moment of the Process was October 1, 2017, when more than two million people participated in a referendum on independence, thus defying the ban imposed by the Spanish courts.

Yesterday, something unprecedented occurred: the Catalan government publicly stated that it disagreed with the Spanish government. This is no small feat, given that we're talking about two socialist governments, with a president of the Generalitat who had previously been a Spanish minister and whose PSOE spokesperson is from the PSC. In other words, when two such similar groups disagree publicly, it's news.

At the Dictum bookstore, which Shahzaib Khan (known to everyone as Miquel) opened five years ago, where the large warehouses of the Banyoles industrial estate border the town's stately old quarter, the shelves full of books take the Pakistani-born bookseller back to his childhood in Kashmir, where he was born. The son of a teacher and a police chief, Shahzaib remembers his house being full of books and being surprised that at his friends' houses the shelves only contained decorative objects. "Don't they read in this house?" he would ask his mother, to whom he owes his love of literature. Instead of taking him and his siblings to the park to play, my mother took them to book clubs, to the movies, or to see a show.

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.

After the electoral defeat of the independence movement a year ago, it makes perfect sense to ask how long President Salvador Illa's autonomist policy of "concord" with Spain will last and how it will end. Of course: concord according to his point of view, colonial docility and the Spanishization of the Catalans according to mine. But, regardless of their respective points of view, and without wishing to fall into a simplistic historical determinism, the truth is that we come from where we come from. And furthermore, considering recent history, we know what state we are talking about and what Spanish nation they want to assimilate us into.

This morning we saw the body of Pope Francis for the first time. His death He has reminded us once again that a much thinner thread seems to separate life from death. This Sunday, he blessed the faithful in the Plaza de Sant Pere, and next Sunday, he will be buried in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.

No to independence (48%) remains above yes (44%) in the latest Barometer of the Centre d'Estudis d'Opinió (CEO), which has increased its questions on the subject. For example, to determine what support for an agreed solution is, either to achieve an independent state or to remain within Spain. 60% of Catalans prefer this option: half of them hope to build an independent Catalonia and the other half for Catalonia to remain part of Spain. Only 11% of those in favour of independence defend unilateralism, while 9% of the unionists consider that there should not be any negotiation.

1. Coup. "What will the King do from now on? Will he sign these pardons?", these are the words of President Díaz Ayuso during the Colón rally and are an incitement to the coup d'état. It doesn't matter if it was a spontaneous expression of someone who always seeks more prominence than anyone else or if it was part of the script prepared by her communication advisor. Díaz Ayuso invited the King to commit an act that would only be acceptable if accompanied by abdication. The royal house has had to come out immediately to cut off any speculation. By accusing her opponents of being coup plotters, it seems that the President has become contaminated.

Never before had pro-independence parties exceeded 50% in an election. The 14-F consolidated ERC, Junts and CUP's absolute majority in Parliament and allowed them to continue governing, despite the low turnout (the lowest in a Catalan election). This result, however, has no direct translation to a possible referendum on self-determination: 48.7% of Catalans are against independence, against 44.9% in favour, according to a survey by Centre d'Estudis d'Opinió (CEO) published on Friday. The figures are, more or less, the same as they have been since July 2019, when no was again ahead of yes (between October 2017 and July 2019 yes was majoritarian).