The president of the governing board of the Catalan Summer University (UCE), Jordi Casassas (Barcelona, 1948), speaks to ARA to review this year's edition.

Cristòfol Soler was a very young deputy with the PP, at only 26 years old, in 1982; he later became the Balearic Minister of Economy, President of the Parliament and, finally, President of the Balearic Government, but he only held the position for ten months, between 1995 and 1996, the shortest in history. He replaced Gabriel Cañellas and lasted very little, but the most surprising thing was when, in the midst of the Process, he declared himself an independentist and presided over the Sovereign Assembly of Mallorca, of which he is still a member. From Prada de Conflent, where Soler attended a round table at the Catalan Summer University, he speaks to ARA and warns that "there are no regionalists left in the PP". In his opinion, what is being done by the executive of the popular Marga Prohens would not be regionalism at any time, despite the autochthonous legacy that from the Balearic PP they say they defend.

The Catalan Countries have a "ruin" which is Spain, or its dependence, if we adhere to the thesis of Quim Torra (2018-2020), Josep Lluís Albinyana (1978-1979) and Cristòfol Soler (1995-1996), former presidents of Catalonia, the Valencian Country and the Balearic Islands, respectively. Soler and Albinyana were the ones who lasted the shortest time in office in each territory (Torra, the second shortest) and all three ended up quarreling with their parties, Junts, the PSPV and the PP, even though their firm independence has been exhibited again this Thursday at the Catalan Summer University in Prada.

The consultation to change the name and recover Catalan identity in the department of Pyrénées-Orientales, the French nomenclature for Northern Catalonia, has ended. This Saturday was the last day of a vote held since June 22, although the results will not be known until August 28. With the participation data available (10% of the electorate with around 35,000 votes, according to departmental sources consulted, pending the publication of definitive data this Monday) and the positioning of the various actors, is a Catalanist shake-up expected? Will Pyrénées Catalanes win, will Pyrénées-Orientales remain, or will there be the cosmetic change of Pyrénées Méditerranée? This is the unknown after the departmental government rejected País Català because it believed the Council of State would veto it.

On Wednesday I was at the summer party of ARA, where, besides greeting colleagues and readers, I heard live the conversation between Albert Om and Ada Parellada, who in September returns to the newspaper to share her recipe book with her numerous followers. Ada is a whirlwind of a woman, and you can easily imagine her cooking four dishes at once. But she is a person with a very thoughtful discourse, in which enthusiasm responds not only to impulse but to a method and an idea. When I hear her, or Maria Nicolau, or Empar Moliner, and so many other people who talk about the land, the product, the wines, and agriculture, I realize that behind their fiery speeches there is not only hedonism, good habits, and environmentalism, but a whole idea of country, of how what is now called the territory should be managed, of how food connects us with a way of doing and living that are also past, heritage, and culture in all senses of the term.I would venture to say that, in these times of political discredit, these proclamations are an authentic reformulation of Catalanism, that concept which, as Josep Pla said, links with everything, and which always knows how to reinvent itself and disguise itself in the most useful way to approach the objective – which is, as always, the defense of the right to exist of a national community–. In the 17th century (and until 1714) Catalanism was revolt; in the 18th, economic development; in the 19th, simultaneously and not always friendly, it was cultural renaissance and social revolution. In the 20th century, political Catalanism exploded, harshly repressed by two dictatorships. And now, in times of political weariness and authentic demographic metamorphosis, one of the safe havens of Catalanism is the land, also threatened, but which continues to function as a mirror of the values and intangible heritage of the country. If cuisine is – back to Josep Pla – the landscape put in a pot, the nation is a human collective living together in the same space. If the political landscape is a wasteland, and the human landscape changes constantly, the natural landscape, the space where we exist, becomes even more the repository of some essential truths that define us and allow us to face changes with the tranquility of knowing that some things – the fruits of the land and culinary tradition – remain unaltered, even if they are enriched and diversified over time. They are the roots that prevent the tree from having to suffer from the length and reach of the new branches, which alter its shape without damaging its essence.This Catalanism of the land, or of the fruits of the land, does not only serve to claim escudella, garnacha, sea and mountain or ratafia. It is also the guarantee of a model of country that respects the environment, the sown fields, fishing and livestock; a country that does not let itself be swallowed by exorbitant growth or the greed of tourism. A country, in short, that respects itself, that does not renounce offering all the good it has to the world. Of this, in politics, we would call it sovereignty. And while history shows us that politics ends up being necessary to defend the country's model, we also know, as is tradition in this land, that when politics fails it is society that protects and organizes itself, shines with its own light and makes the country remain despite not appearing on maps with its own color. I toast, therefore, to all the farmers, ranchers, fishermen, restaurant or home cooks, sommeliers and disseminators who help us understand that, under a surface increasingly battered by plastic and cement, there is the land, watching the centuries and millennia pass, reminding us who we are.

Reneix Nous Catalans, renamed Catalans Segle 21. And it is reborn under the warmth of Junts personalities such as former minister Victòria Alsina, responsible for immigration in the Junts leadership, but also with the blessing of former president Artur Mas and former Convergència immigration official Àngel Colom – promoter of Nous Catalans–. At the presentation this Tuesday afternoon in Barcelona, around forty migrant entities have given their support and received the Flama del Canigó, accompanied by Junts members such as deputy Ennatu Domingo.

An honorific welcome to Pope Leo XIV with international resonance and a defense of Catalonia and Catalan "national language and identity". FC Barcelona, various social entities such as Òmnium and the ANC, other Catholic organizations, former presidents of the Generalitat and Parliament, and numerous political and religious personalities have signed a manifesto published as an advertisement this Friday in some international media, such as Avvenire or Corriere della Sera, as well as Catalan ones like ARA.

That the Sagrada Família has a strong political charge in itself has been demonstrated this very week by the controversy over the use of Catalan in the blessing of the tower of Jesus by Pope Leo XIV on June 10. As the poet Joan Maragall said in 1905 in an article in the Diario de Barcelona: "The Sagrada Família is the monument of Catalan identity in Barcelona, it is the symbol of eternally ascending piety, it is the concretization in stone of the yearning for height, it is the image of the popular soul". The symbolism of Antoni Gaudí's work had a political and social message from its beginnings, not just a religious one. It connects with the unique personality of the architect, a deeply Catalanist, conservative man involved in social Catholicism.

Catalan nationalism in Northern Catalonia will face a crucial test this Sunday in the municipal elections. Beyond understanding the state of the movement, the keystone is Perpignan. The northern Catalan capital is the largest city in France with a mayor from the far-right National Rally party, Louis Aliot, who recently told EFE that he is not "anti-Catalan," only "anti-independence," and that he defends "Catalan culture," despite having vetoed a wedding conducted in Catalan because he insisted on French. Sant Jordi has been cornered in the middle of his progressive change of the cityWith over 120,000 inhabitants, Perpignan accounts for a quarter of the population of Northern Catalonia, which is approaching half a million, and is the main battleground for Catalan nationalism, which is also divided there. Perpignan's importance helps explain why the leader of the French far right, Jordan Bardella, and the far left, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, have both landed there. How does Catalan nationalism approach the elections?

Movements within the Catalan Church. Catholic Catalanism has decided to mobilize, organize itself, and exert pressure on the Catalan clergy and their grassroots members, as well as on the Holy See, according to several sources in this newspaper. This comes at a crucial moment when Pope Leo XIV must make essential decisions regarding the appointment of bishops, such as the one in Barcelona, ​​but also in a context marked by the proliferation of Catholic initiatives with conservative or ultraconservative and pro-Spanish leanings. Specifically, some thirty Catholic and Catalan nationalist organizations, many with a social focus, have joined together in the Network of Christian Entities, which has existed for a few months but was officially launched at an event this Thursday at noon.

There are Barcelonans who speak of the city as their homeland, and it makes sense, because civic nationalism gets better press than national nationalism. A Barcelonan can complain that foreigners predominate on their street without fear of being labeled racist. They can publicly harass tourists, who are, for the most part, middle-class people who enjoy traveling as much as we do... Another reason for being a Barcelonan nationalist is to bypass the conflict between Catalan and Spanish identity. A kind of third way: urban, global, and Mediterranean. This third way, however, tends to use Spanish and see Catalan identity as a constraint. But there are also Barcelonans who are proud of their city precisely because it is the capital of Catalonia, something so objective that, by ignoring it, we fail to explain what that city is, what makes it different.

Spanish President Pedro Sánchez is deeply dividing Catalan political identity today. In the post-independence era, without a pro-independence majority, the big question is what to do with the Spanish government: whether to block it or negotiate with it. Without any criticism of their past actions, former Catalan presidents José Montilla, Artur Mas, Carles Puigdemont, and Pere Aragonès clashed over Sánchez and unity in a colloquium on Catalan identity this Thursday. Because they quickly reached an agreement on Catalan identity in theory, but when it comes to putting it into practice, everything changes.

The PP and Catalanism have been two poles that in recent years, especially since the Process, have tended to oppose each other. But this has not always been the case, and the PP has attempted some Catalanist shifts. While the period of the rise of the independence movement and Alejo Vidal-Quadras's presidency of the Catalan PP are marked by a complete clash, Josep Piqué led a commitment to a Catalanist path, although he was given no leeway from Génova and ended up being ousted. Likewise, Alicia Sánchez-Camacho led a campaign his proposal for "singular financing" when CiU demanded a fiscal pact, but with the Proceso, it turned the page. Currently, according to ARA, strategic internal work is underway within the Catalan PP to promote its own pro-Catalan path.

For some time now, Catalan nationalists have been talking less and less about sovereignty and more about "demography," which in most cases is a euphemism for "immigration." Within the Catalan nationalist community, a diagnosis has become increasingly popular that identifies the strong demographic growth of recent years as the source of many of the social, cultural, and national problems facing Catalonia.

The mayor of Badalona, ​​​​Xavier García Albiol, establishes his own profile within the Catalan PP in defense of the language of the Principality. However, an approved motion "in support" of the National Pact for the Language on numerous points – promoted by Salvador Illa's executive – has caused an internal earthquake: the Catalan PP, pressured by Génova, has disavowed Albiol in a statement, since despite the fact that his strategy has been well received by multiple members, the newspaper The World and the nerves and concern on the part of the state leadership, according to ARA. "We reject President Salvador Illa's language policy and the National Pact," reads the forceful statement sent this Thursday by the leadership led by Alejandro Fernández. However, sources consulted maintain that the problem has been primarily in Madrid, not with the Catalan People's Party (PP).

The Visit of King Felipe VI to Montserrat still brewing in some sectors of the independence movement, but several actors in the movement remain in tune with the abbey. Some are grateful for the latest gestures, which have turned the page on the complex situation derived from the invitation to the Spanish monarchy at the monastery's millennium events—after the royal family wanted to be present. In any case, more than two months after the event with the head of state, the abbey has now held a reception for the Catalan nationalist. Canigó Award from the Catalan Summer University (UCE), in which the abbot, Manel Gasch, spoke of "Catalan Countries." Gasch also He met with former President Carles Puigdemont in Waterloo. this week, and He sent a message to the PP and the rest of the European Parliament., with the demand for the use of Catalan in the European Union, as "part of the identity" of the continent, within an exhibition on the monastery's millennium in which he implicitly rowed for official status in the EU. Has there been a Catalanist redemption of Montserrat?

Manuel de Pedrolo (l'Aranyó, 1918 – Barcelona, ​​​​1990) tried to get his first and only political essay, entitled, through censorship three times. Letters from CataloniaAll three times, the censors rejected him. The writer displayed, in the judges' words, a "definitely separatist character" and presented a text they considered "political propaganda with particular violence." It was the summer of 1966, a time when the Franco dictatorship was experiencing a certain degree of openness, but even so, the state apparatus did not yield to Pedrolo's demands. Letters from Catalonia It was forgotten in a drawer until, six decades later, the publishing house Comanegra unearthed it from the writer's archive. The essay now sees the light of day in an anthology entitled Combat prose, which is part of the collection Authorships and which also includes about forty articles by Pedrolo published between 1964 and 1988, some of which are also unpublished.

When Alberto Núñez Feijóo was appointed leader of the PP, he spoke of "Catalan nationality," of improving financing, and championed "constitutional Catalanism." But the passage of time and the unique profile of the PP leader in the Principality, Alejandro Fernández, have left the idea on the back foot, although it could have traction. There are cadres who advocate recovering the spirit of former leader Josep Piqué, as the Galician PP does. Now, is it likely that he will eventually push this constitutional Catalanism forward?

The Montserrat Abbey's invitation to King Felipe VI to participate in a millennium event sparked protests and unrest among the independence movement and Catholic Catalans. The visit, that occurred After the Royal House expressed that it wanted to take part, according to some voices consulted by this newspaper, it represents a further step in a political shift by Montserrat aligned with thestatus quo, while others, like the abbey, flatly deny it. Has there been a shift?

King Felipe VI's upcoming visit to Montserrat on the eve of Saint John's Day has caused a stir among Catalan Catholic circles, suggesting that consultations within the Royal Household pointed in that direction. The Newspaper published that the monarch would attend on June 23, but at that time, despite the Head of State's intention to attend, no details had been agreed upon between the institutions nor had the king's attendance been formally communicated, according to sources familiar with the matter to this newspaper. The Montserrat Abbey, symbol of Catalanism, has he opened the doors to the head of state?