Today marks two years since Salvador Illa was invested as President of the Generalitat. His investiture speech – his government program – was overshadowed by the fleeting appearance of President Puigdemont in the public sphere, but it is worth reviewing.This is a well-constructed speech, characterized by the promise of rigor and goodwill. It does not avoid referencing the country's problems – poverty, educational outcomes, declining wages, rising housing costs, weak infrastructure to face the climate challenge, etc. – but it does not include a diagnosis; Illa stated that educational outcomes were poor, that wages were low, and that housing was inaccessible for too many people, but at no point did he explain why.It is not surprising, therefore, that it is impossible to find the proposed therapy in that discourse, even though it can be guessed that it was about putting more money into public services, boosting economic growth (“brave decisions for Catalonia to gain weight”) and administering with consensus (“governing for everyone”, “dialogue with everyone”, “agreement with municipalities and civil society”, “ambition but pragmatism”, “agree whenever possible”, etc.)The practical materialization of those ideas turned out to be the "Catalonia leads" plan, presented half a year later. The central idea was the boosting of economic growth, and, in fact, the reference to "leading" seemed to refer to the objective that Catalonia's GDP would once again surpass that of Madrid, as the sorpasso was being poorly digested by local elites. Two years after the investiture speech, it is difficult not to reach the conclusion that the applied therapy is proving to be wrong: Catalonia continues to grow very rapidly economically, but not only are public housing, healthcare, and education worse than two years ago, but everything indicates that in two years' time they will have worsened, as the population continues to grow at a much higher rate than the capacity of these services to respond: does anyone doubt that the PISA results for 2025 would have been worse than those for 2022 if schools had excluded only 5% of students? Regarding the Rodalies service – the fourth pillar of the welfare state that has been failing – although work is being done on it, a large part of the investments are not being concentrated on strengthening the service but on burying urban tracks, and what will remain to be done when the current 2020-2030 plan ends will be much more than what will have been done.

On August 8, exactly two years ago, the investiture of Salvador Illa hung by a thread. That day, all eyes were on Carles Puigdemont. The former president's return ended up being fleeting and marked a day that culminated with the PSC leader being designated as the new president of the Generalitat thanks to the votes of ERC and Comuns. Since then, Illa has wanted to establish his Government as the one that has "turned the page" on the Process. The one that has put housing at the center of its priorities and also the one that has agreed with ERC and the Spanish government on a new financing system for Catalonia. However, Illa is also the president with the deepest educational crisis in recent years and the one who has had to face the chronic chaos of Rodalies. Past the halfway point, the socialist government faces the second part of the legislature with the first – and perhaps the only – budgets secured. It is the guarantee of stability that Illa was looking for to reach the end of the term – although the socialists do not rule out presenting those for 2027–. However, the Government still has assignments to resolve before reaching the end of a legislature that will also have external variables that will fully impact it, such as the next municipal and general elections, or the possible return of Carles Puigdemont.

Salvador Illa reaches this Saturday the equator of his term at the head of the Generalitat, and he arrives facing a phenomenon well known to political science: the wear and tear of government action. Demoscopics show us that after the victory at the polls, the PSC experienced an upturn. However, as the legislature has progressed and the harshness of daily management has taken hold, citizen support has suffered a constant and progressive decline until hitting rock bottom and settling at the lowest point of support since the start of the term. How is this cycle of loss of popularity explained and what real options does the PSC have to regain lost ground before the next elections?

Power is a Lernaean hydra, a multi-headed dragon. Part of the power is embodied in formal institutions, but there are centers whose greatest strength lies precisely in their informal nature. Montesquieu's separation of powers, which is the scheme of checks and balances that predominates in increasingly worn-out modern democracies, does not by any means encompass the spheres of influence and decision-making that intervene in the economy, politics, or society. Although in the free, open, and democratic world we think of the preeminence of the political, the truth is that in this area, even if there is a tendency to overact, verbal excesses are in reality a demonstration of weakness and impotence. Power, when it is real and authentic, tends to be quiet and to move in a certain clandestinity. When opacity surpasses the evident, we will be facing a society that has lost the value of transparency and where the reign of concealment prevails.Political organizations and leaders lose all credibility to the extent that they hold government, but govern very little, either due to incapacity or due to the blocking by the opposition, which can be stridently political, but can be accompanied by an empowered judiciary, economic sectors that want more benevolent policies, or media outlets predominantly against whoever formally holds the government. In Spain, to say that Pedro Sánchez holds power would be a fallacy. He has made very brave social and economic decisions, but he cannot approve budgets, and his theoretical allies in Congress cause his major legislative initiatives to falter. At the same time, the bodies of the judiciary show him - day in, day out - who really is in charge.The great economic powers express themselves in the Bernabéu box or in the newspapers demanding tax cuts and greater economic liberalization, especially of public services. Meanwhile, the bishops blame the governing left from the pulpit and the pseudo-media fill the communicative space with disqualifications, lies, and half-truths. The left-wing electorate that does not fall for the fictional narrative of anti-Sanchismo, knows that it is in "resistance" mode and that its policies are being blocked while it suffers a ruthless attack from a justice system that is everything but just. Whoever governs does not have the power, does not have hegemony in the Gramscian sense: it is a tenant farmer who wants to be evicted, whether civilly or criminally.

Salvador Illa reaches the halfway point of his term with the stability he sought, with his first budgets, but closes the political year without being able to quell one of the crises he has been dealing with for months: the educational one. In fact, the conflict with teachers has worsened in recent days following the PISA test fiasco, but the President of the Generalitat has once again reaffirmed his confidence in the Minister of Education, Esther Niubó, and has assured that the Government will go to the end to find out what happened. Despite the crisis, Illa has boasted about the country's progress and has put the new financing model as a "priority" for his term. In fact, he has expressed confidence in maintaining the support of his partners until the end of the legislature and has assured that he does not plan to make any further changes to his cabinet after the replacement of the head of Social Rights, Mònica Martínez Bravo.Freshly returned from his official trip to Vietnam and Singapore, Illa appeared this Friday at a press conference at the Palau de la Generalitat to review his second year in office and took the opportunity to announce an increase in public works in the coming months of around 500 million euros and also his next trip: Ukraine. "We are cooperating very well and it is important to send a message of support for the enormous effort being made," Illa defended. However, the president admitted that the Government has pending issues to resolve, including the housing crisis, but also to fulfill the flagship investiture agreement that the socialists signed with ERC: the new financing model. "It is the priority," he admitted.

Catalan construction companies have stated that the Generalitat has only put out to tender 3,000 flats from the famous Plan 50,000, thus qualifying what the President of the Government, Salvador Illa, said, who said there were 31,041 "underway" during an intervention in Parliament in October. Furthermore, they have warned that "none are finished". The Catalan executive committed to incorporate 50,000 affordable rental flats into the market, which are to be built by 2030.

Salvador Illa will close the political year with his third trip to Asia. After visiting Japan, South Korea, and China, the President of the Generalitat returns this Thursday from his five-day trip to Vietnam and Singapore, marking the first time a head of the Catalan executive has traveled to the southeast of the Asian continent. The objective was to strengthen economic ties with the business sector of these two countries, and the president's agenda has been eminently economic. Thus, for example, Illa met with executives from Vietnam Airlines to explore the possibility of creating a direct flight between Hanoi and Barcelona. However, the president's agenda also included institutional meetings with the country's authorities, such as the one he held this Wednesday with the Prime Minister of Singapore, Lawrence Wong (who leads the People's Action Party, of centrist-conservative leanings). Housing was one of the issues discussed by the two leaders, a topic that Illa has precisely placed at the center of his political agenda.

Salvador Illa teams up with the Minister of Education, Esther Niubó, after the Government made public "the error" in the PISA tests. "All the support", expressed the President of the Generalitat from Vietnam, where he is on an official trip. It is the first time that Illa has spoken about this fiasco, which the Department of Education made public on Friday and for which Niubó is scheduled to appear in Parliament on Monday to give explanations. In fact, Illa has assured that the minister will "make things clear" in her appearance. The "technical incident" that the Generalitat spoke about on Friday will not allow Catalonia to compare the results that will be made public in September with other territories or with previous years.

Two months after crossing the Atlantic and visiting California, Salvador Illa is now looking towards Asia and this Saturday begins a five-day trip to Vietnam and Singapore to strengthen commercial ties with Southeast Asia. In fact, it is the first time a President of the Generalitat visits this area, but it is the third trip Illa makes to Asia: since he has been President of the Government, he has visited Japan, South Korea, and China. The objective is to promote exports and attract investments from the Asian market. Salvador Illa will visit Hanoi, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh, and Singapore to meet with economic agents and the main airline of each country, in addition to visiting Catalan companies located in both territories. In parallel, the president will also meet with the Prime Minister of Singapore, Lawrence Wong, and the Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam, Pham Gia Tuc.

After nine months, fifteen sessions and up to fifty appearances, this Tuesday the Parliament has approved part of the report of the investigation committee on the activity of the Directorate General for Child and Adolescent Care (DGAIA) between the years 2011 and 2025. The committee was created, among other things, due to the case of the minor protected by the DGAIA who was a victim of sexual abuse between 2020 and 2021 and which led to the refounding and renaming of the service by the Government.

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.

The first word of the day must be for Josep Vallverdú, who died yesterday at 103 years old.History will speak of the Lleida writer as a celebrated author of children's and young adult novels, with Rovelló at the peak of popularity. But Vallverdú is much more than that: there are more than 200 books in Catalan written amidst prohibitions, those of a life that took place in large part between two dictatorships, that of Primo de Rivera and that of Franco, a civil war and a post-war period. Vallverdú, from the same group as Joaquim Carbó, Sebastià Sorribas, or Emili Teixidor, is one of those writers who saved our words, and for that he deserves our gratitude. From Vallverdú, I want to share with you today some wise words spoken in an interview, talking about what was to remain in the last years of life. He said: “Only affections and hopes should remain in the closet, and the stronger the affections, the closer the hopes will be to becoming a reality.” May he rest in peace, Josep Vallverdú.Meanwhile, the judicial landscape is darkening for former Spanish president Zapatero and, by extension, for the current president Sánchez, who has always supported him, because although it has not been clarified who Zapatero influenced to rescue an airline with 53 million of public money for the pandemic, what seems proven is that the company paid money, a percentage of which ended up in Zapatero's pocket, and he denied having anything to do with it. For the moment, La Moncloa continues to trust Zapatero, but in view of what is known, that trust hangs by a thread.And today the Parliament held the last control session of the Government before the holidays. President Illa has been heard to say that he has gone from “no amnesty nor anything like that” to applauding the ECJ and asking that Spanish justice comply with the law. In fact, Puigdemont, Comín and Puig have denounced Spain before the European Commission for disregarding the ECJ.But the most interesting thing was when the spokesperson for Junts, Mònica Sales, asked the president what he plans to do about the shameful state investments in Catalonia, which last year were 8.6%. And Illa's response began by acknowledging the problem.

Today, to start, we have a government crisis. The new Minister of Social Rights is called Raúl Moreno, until now general secretary of the department. He replaces Mònica Martínez Bravo, who lived in Madrid and worked in Catalonia, and who requested relief from President Illa. At the handover ceremony, Illa remarked that it was a change of minister but not of policies. As Aleix Moldes explains today, this will not be the last government reshuffle where the Minister of Health, Olga Pané, currently on leave due to a fractured fibula, will not finish the term, nor will super-minister Sílvia Paneque, who will be sent back to her city, Girona, to try to regain the mayorship for the socialists. It is worth noting that Girona is a state-level mayoralty, because the relationship with the Spanish royal family will not be fully normalized in Catalonia until the awards named after the Crown heiress, the Princess of Girona, can be held in the city.It is clear that, due to a government crisis, that of the United Kingdom, which yesterday premiered a prime minister, the Labourite Andy Burnham, who in a speech without a lectern or teleprompter pledged to "make politics work, and work better", promised a new political model and a new economic model, to reindustrialize the United Kingdom. Burnham went straight to the point: the cost of living must be reduced, homelessness must be ended (he went to prepare breakfasts at a shelter for homeless people in London), in short, to get the United Kingdom out of a crisis that we also know here, but which there has the specificity of Brexit. It has been a bad deal: think that since the United Kingdom left the European Union (now, in June, it was 10 years ago) they have had seven prime ministers, and Burnham, specifically, is the fourth prime minister of Charles III in less than 4 years. Charles III succeeded his mother in September 2022, now four years ago, and began his reign with Liz Truss (who only lasted 45 days), Rishi Sunak, Keir Starmer, and now Andy Burnham. The fourth in less than four years is a clear sign of political instability derived from national disorientation, inflation, stagnant wages, lack of affordable housing, or the deterioration of public services.There are no perfect countries, they all carry a backpack or another; what do I have to tell you about Catalonia that you don't know. Today the day began with train traffic interrupted between Lleida and La Plana-Picamoixons due to a cable theft, as reported by Adif. An incident that happens every two by three, and which speaks, above all, of the abandonment in which Spain has kept its railway network in Catalonia for decades.In the last few hours, the Football World Cup has given the idea of Spain the possibility to look in the mirror and like itself, to make the speech of "When Spain plays, we all play", of the inclusive nation. This is the pleasant part of the Spanish message these days. But the nationalist discourse soon appeared, consisting of saying that it was enough to go around the world with complexes and that young people went out into the street without complexes. Let this comment from the newspaper this comment from the newspaper La Razón.Come on, cover yourselves a little. The idea of a unified and Castilian Spain has never had complexes (with a slight exception, a tactical withdrawal at the beginning of the Transition due to an apparent bad conscience due to the association between Spain and Francoism). For the rest, Spain goes its own way, with its language, investments, and blocking of any legal recognition of its plurinationality. And, on the other hand, let's understand each other: they present it as a success of the idea of Spain that people go out to celebrate the successes of the only team, when it is the only possible team, the "normal" one, which is normal because it is mandatory for athletes under penalty of losing their federative license to play. The only uninhibited thing is the nerve they have.

Has acabado de aprobar the 2026 budgets, much later than I expected, but the Government is now setting in motion the machinery for those of 2027. This Monday the Official Gazette of the Generalitat of Catalonia (DOGC) publishes the order from the Minister of Economy, Alícia Romero, for all departments and public companies to begin preparing next year's accounts. Until September 10, internal amendments to the draft can be proposed, and by October 23, most variables should be finalized. However, this does not necessarily mean that the budgets will end up being approved by the executive council: the PSC has already been burned enough by the recent negotiation with ERC, which forced Illa to withdraw the 2026 budget when it was already being processed.

Catalonia concentrates 17% of the State's population and contributes 19% of the Spanish GDP. It would make sense for these indicators to be valued when making state investments that facilitate the population's well-being, for justice, and the growth of its economy, for the benefit of the whole. On the other hand, year after year, and we've had many, too many, what is demonstrated is a chronic deficit of investments that in no way corresponds to the demographic and economic weight of the country. According to reports that the Treasury has sent to political parties and Congress, the central government spent only 8.6% of all the investment it executed during the year 2025 in the autonomous communities in Catalonia. 8.6%. Less than half of what would correspond.

Increase productivity. The Government sets this as a priority in order to continue growing the Catalan economy. In the annual report published by the Department of Economy and Finance, the Generalitat points out that "despite the intense process of accumulation of physical capital and labor", the per capita income of the country is growing "more weakly than the European Union average over the last quarter of a century". "This paradox therefore points to an inefficient evolution of productivity", indicates the study, which recognizes that total factor productivity (TFP) – the reference indicator for measuring productivity – "shows a worse trajectory" than that observed in the European Union.

Great news: the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) has largely endorsed the amnesty law.It found it to be in accordance with EU law, because it considered that the amnesty is not contrary to the financial interests of the European Union, nor is it contrary to the directive on terrorism (the crime for which some CDRs had been prosecuted). It goes further, emphatically: the CJEU states that the amnesty does not harm equal treatment, in the sense that it was a law only intended to favor some, but rather it was approved "in a real context of political and social reconciliation" and therefore does not constitute a "self-amnesty". With this ruling, the Court of Auditors should file its cases, and the National Court, too. And the Supreme Court, of course. But at the moment I'm speaking to you, the arrest warrant for Carles Puigdemont or the disqualification of Oriol Junqueras is still in place. And it is quite likely that they will wait until autumn to lift them, which is when the Constitutional Court will issue a ruling on the Supreme Court's refusal to apply the amnesty. To put it this way, Carles Puigdemont is one step closer to returning to Catalonia, and now it seems it is only a matter of a few months.The CJEU ruling is great news, but that the amnesty is not fully applied is a disgrace that can only be explained by the "a por ellos!". It is important to remember where we come from: the TS prosecuted the political prisoners for rebellion, a crime that should have required armed violence, it condemned for sedition, which would also have required violence, and now it refuses to apply the amnesty for embezzlement, for which there has also been none. It is a deployment of creative, patriotic justice.The president Illa made a statement in Catalan, Spanish, and English :“I appear before all of you to express my satisfaction and that of the Government of Catalonia for the ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union. An explicit ruling, which endorses Organic Law 1/2024 on amnesty for the institutional, political, and social normalization of Catalonia. The highest instance of European justice has spoken clearly: the law complies with European law. Europe says 'yes' to amnesty, Catalonia says 'yes' to the future. The decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union is very good news for Catalonia, for Spain, and for democracy. There is no turning back. The amnesty law is part, with all its consequences, of our legal framework, and therefore, its application is mandatory.”

Let's start with the big headlines that the latest barometer of the Centre d’Estudis d’Opinió of the Generalitat, which confirms already known trends in our political landscape. Aliança Catalana positions itself as the third force – in a technical tie with the second, ERC – in the Parliament, thanks to votes that leave Junts per Catalunya, which shows unexpected weakness. Meanwhile, the PSC, despite accumulating a great deal of power, not only does not advance, but recedes. All of this coincides, for example, with the survey published by this newspaper last May, although Sílvia Orriols' rise was not as pronounced then as it is now.Before continuing, it is worth pointing out that polls are only a snapshot, the reflection of a specific moment in a reality – in this case, political reality – that is constantly evolving. Shortly after the photograph was taken, the situation has already changed and is different. In this regard, it should be remembered that we are in July 2026 and the Catalan elections will be held, if they are not brought forward, in the spring of 2028. There is a long time to go. Many things, foreseen and unforeseen, have to happen between now and then. For example, it is very possible that next year we will have a PP-Vox government in Madrid, and we also have to expect that the amnesty will have been fully effective and Carles Puigdemont will have returned to Catalonia. However, polls serve to help us understand and better grasp the situation we are in.The main protagonists today are, without a doubt, Sílvia Orriols and her party. Never before, since the recovery of democracy, has such a rapid and resounding rise been seen. Aliança is receiving support from many people who had voted for Junts. It is also taking voters from Vox. It is very clear that Orriols's main appeal is the call against immigration, especially against Muslim immigration. This fact should serve for everyone to realize that the migratory issue must be addressed, whether one likes it or not. It cannot be allowed to be taken over and capitalized on by either Aliança or Vox. The fact that these two parties have an estimated voting intention of practically 25% indicates that immigration – in the volume that Catalonia has received it – is perceived as a problem by many citizens. It is an important concern. If we do not want the dehumanizing and often impossible recipes of the far-right to continue advancing, the rest of the forces must face the phenomenon head-on, they must foster an honest debate and they must make realistic – autonomies have few competences in this matter – and sensible proposals. Hiding our heads in the sand and pretending that nothing is happening leads us to a disastrous scenario.

July 14th, the French national holiday, to commemorate the end of the Bourbon monarchy and the establishment of a republic driven by easily embraceable universal values, such as liberty, fraternity, and equality. It was only fitting that in "Casablanca," the "Marseillaise" competed against a Nazi anthem to become the anthem of freedom sung with pride and courage by a group of Free Frenchmen, in one of the most moving scenes in cinema history. It would all be very beautiful if it weren't for the fact that in the name of this fraternal republic, France has pursued languages like Catalan to the point of self-loathing and extinction.It is similar to what the Spanish state has done in Catalonia. What it has done, and what it continues to do:The Supreme Court has ruled that Spanish cannot be excluded from the signage of public educational centers in Catalonia. He says that “Castilian is the official language throughout Spain, which means it is a language that cannot be excluded from communications between public authorities and citizens".As Sebastià Alzamora titles his article today, “if you are Spanish, speak Spanish”, which is what my parents had to hear in their youth during the dictatorship. It's the same old song, when it suits us we are Spanish (especially when it comes to paying taxes that go away and don't serve the well-being of Catalans) and when it suits us (always) our language is not Spanish enough. We know all this by heart and, even so, meanwhile, President Illa went to Madrid yesterday and signed Catalonia's loyalty to the State. A loyalty that, as we see, is not reciprocal and that, by dint of repetition, led to the logical conclusion of half the country wanting independence in 2017. Loyalty is only possible from equality. And what exists between Spain and Catalonia or between Spanish and Catalan is a Catalan subordination to the supremacy of the State over the province. The rest are rhetorical sleight of hand that no one can believe anymore. Or kind, almost pleading, ways of telling the Spanish that the current government of the Generalitat will not organize any October 1st for them. 

President Illa has offered, at an event by Efe and RTVE in Madrid, the "institutional cooperation" and "loyalty" of his government, and has considered that those who criticize the new financing model because Catalonia proposes it and not for its content are "bad Spaniards".