The PSC and Junts go hand in hand again. They did it months ago to address the drought and last week during the general policy debate, when they made their own proposals succeed by more than 85% and, on the contrary, two thirds of Esquerra’s resolutions fell, to the point that the post-convergents did not facilitate the advancement of positions, as Pere Aragonès recalled this morning, in favor of ending the fiscal deficit or “underfinancing” in healthcare. “Your Government is more isolated than ever and there is a sociovergent alliance to put an end to any left-wing policy,” said Xavier Pellicer, CUP deputy, today before the PSC and Junts showed new coordination: in the control session The Government and the president of the Generalitat have pressured the Catalan Executive to respond forcefully to the acts of vandalism that have occurred in recent days in Catalonia.
The list of incidents is significant: in Tàrrega, Amposta, Manresa, assaults on concessionaires in Moolins de Rei, stabbings in Vic and Barcelona. All of them starring organized groups.
“Security is essential in every society,” said the leader of the PSC, Salvador Illa, for whom the latest acts of vandalism have caused a “sense of insecurity and impunity” among the citizens of Catalonia. The first secretary of the Catalan socialists has warned that it would be a mistake to minimize these events, “if we do not say things by their name and even more so if we hide our heads in the sand and stand behind the mayors.” Something that Aragonès has refuted, who has considered coordination with municipalities and local police necessary for prevention and response tasks.
In any case, Illa has insisted that security depends on Aragonès. “We are going from bad to worse,” he said, addressing directly the head of the Government. In fact, the leader of the Catalan socialists has criticized the fact that during this term the Parliament has dedicated itself more, as he has pointed out, to supervising and controlling the police than to addressing “the real problems” that the police must face. Something that has sounded like an amendment to the Aragonès Government’s approach to CUP postulates. At this point, the socialist leader has announced that they will request an extraordinary monographic plenary session on security.
Junts has reinforced the message of insecurity. Albert Batet, president of the JxCat parliamentary group, has denounced that the Government has not given a “concrete response or solutions to the serious increase in insecurity in Catalonia, which requires imminent measures.” Batet has also brought to the fore a new bill to launch the Agència d’Atenció Integrada Social i Sanitària, to be approved urgently, when the Government has already registered a bill in this regard.
Previously, Junts deputy Jeannine Abella had warned of these episodes of group violence, “which have been reproduced” in several Catalan towns. The representative has expressed the opinion that this is a 2new phenomenon2 that requires analysis of what causes it and what means of prevention must be applied.
Aragonès has detailed lines of action: the police presence will be reinforced at all major events and in places with maximum public attendance. Secondly, the president of the Generalitat has stated that there will be “forceful action” by the Mossos d’Esquadra in the investigations of the acts of vandalism that occurred. “There have been several detainees, and those responsible for these actions should know that they will not go unpunished,” he stressed. And thirdly, he has highlighted that there are situations of social uprooting that aggravate the situation.
In line with what was previously expressed by the Minister of the Interior, Joan Ignasi Elena, the president has indicated that marijuana drug trafficking “is one of the main security problems in Catalonia.” “We will have to change discourses, be forceful and, if necessary, change legislation, because a permissive culture is being taken advantage of so that organized crime breaks up society,” he concluded.
The head of the Government has stated on several occasions that he intends to finish his term in February 2025, but with only 33 ERC deputies and the rationalized opposition of the PSC and Junts it could take a long time.
