The law on public sector contracts is based on the principles of free competition and equal opportunities. Any company, entity or person from all over Catalonia can submit bids for public tenders from the Catalan administration. This also applies to those from the Spanish State and any country in the European Union. The award committees are very demanding and do not accept any criteria that discriminate based on origin or nationality. However, these public tenders, necessary to guarantee transparency and prevent cronyism, sometimes result in surprising awards, with decisions that are difficult for citizens and the local business community to understand.

In 2019 I completed a master's degree in economics in London. Shortly before I graduated, representatives of the British government visited the university to present their Fast Stream program for civil service accessIt was an attractive career path for young economists interested in public policy: a highly competitive, yet streamlined and competency-based entry process, with digital tests, joining the following year, an entry salary, and rotations between ministries while training to perform leadership and public management tasks.

The brutal attack that the new Trump administration and its techno-oligarchy allies are carrying out against everything that sounds public is so exaggerated that it may seem simply bizarre to us, and as such become part of what we discuss with our work colleagues and friends when we have a moment. But the matter is much more serious, since when public spending, public servants, taxes and all the so-called institutional chiringuitos are attacked, behind it there are essential public policies and services for a large part of the population. On the other hand, it is not just another eccentricity of the new Trumpian era, but in Europe (and in Catalonia) there are many supporters of applying the same logic a public sector that is accused of wasting resources, of caring only about those who take advantage of the system and of having grown in an excessive way.