The April Fair of Catalonia is called this year to recover one of its most colorful roles, that of the scene of power, that of a showcase for politicians, that of a parade for candidates of all colors. Whims and coincidences of the electoral calendar. The famous 50th edition of such a folkloric celebration will take place this spring on the large asphalt esplanade of the Fòrum de les Cultures from April 21 to May 1, barely a month before the imminent municipal elections.
As in the times of the now ousted Francisco GarcÃa Prieto, the historic president of the Federation of Andalusian Cultural Entities in Catalonia (Fecac) and tremendously clever commercial agent for products related to food. Jordi Pujol once said that in Catalonia there were three presidents that no one could touch. He was referring to himself, Josep LluÃs Núñez, president of Barça, and GarcÃa Prieto himself. GarcÃa Prieto, the last to fall, long before he did, liked to remember these words from time to time. So, the parades of politicians between the booths had councilors and ministers, councilors and mayors, presidents and presidents…
No, it was not about taking advantage of the opportunity to take a mass bath in a massive appointment. At least it wasn’t just about that. For decades, GarcÃa Prieto made a good part of the Catalan political class believe that his opinion could influence the vote of the Andalusians living in Catalonia. Believe or at least fear. Perhaps this is the reason for the very affectionate treatment that the institutions gave to the Fecac for so long. Some years, the parliaments of the corresponding inauguration aroused as much expectation as the institutional Christmas messages. Once, when the pro-independence forces pushed him the most, Francisco GarcÃa Prieto said that “minorities are there to crush them.”
In the end, about ten years ago, his own dauphin, a few fellow board members and several Andalusian entities ended up separating him, GarcÃa Prieto, fed up with alleged goings-on. The April Fair of Catalonia thus got rid of many controversies, and also lost a good part of its political protagonism… A lot of fairgrounds were grateful that they were removed from so many controversies, to stop being the object of controversy. Daniel Salinero, the successor of GarcÃa Prieto, who is already becoming a veteran, always, from the first moment, tried to place this party outside of any discussion.
But everything indicates that this year’s party will have an aftertaste of déjà vu. It is always endearing to see the leaders swallowing little box after little box, booth after booth. Yesterday, among the public attending the presentation of the sarao and its new poster, we already found a couple of mayors, the one from the PSC and the one from Ciudadanos, Jaume Collboni and Ana Grau, as well as some socialist deputy and a long list of councilors of the municipalities of Badalona and Sant Adrià de Besòs, and also the general coordinator of the Vox parliamentary group, Gabriel Falcón. Everyone will come here to fish.
And at the time of the speeches, there were, among others, that of President Salinero himself, of course, and those of Carles Prieto, government delegate in Catalonia; Joan Francesc Marco, director of the National Institute of Performing Arts and Music (Inaem) –he said that he came on behalf of Minister Iceta–; Joan Ramon Riera, Councilor for Children, Youth and the Elderly; Esperanza GarcÃa, delegate of the Junta de AndalucÃa in Catalonia, and Adelaida Moya, general director of Popular Culture of the Generalitat.
