If I were Catalan with the right to vote, I would ask myself three questions before tomorrow’s day of reflection. The first, superficial one, would be whether the electoral campaign has been of any use. Of course. No campaign is useless. Only certain attitudes of the parties deserve any criticism. To the so-called constitutionalists, because they have looked more to their state interests than to Catalan emergencies. It is striking how the PSOE wanted to invade the territory of Sumar, how the PP wanted to grow at the expense of Vox and how Sánchez and Feijóo brought their war of hoaxes and mutual destruction to the Catalan electoral sphere. And in the sovereigntist parties it seemed to us that we continued to see more stark struggle for their leadership than proposals for the management of public services. Nothing new. The same thing always happens.
Second question: Catalonia, according to very authoritative voices, is suffering a crisis of confidence with direct effects on the loss of its longed-for splendor. The long-awaited splendor is understood as the economic potential, the attractiveness for investments, the well-being of the people, sustainable growth and, of course, the cultural pull that seduced the best writers and artists in the world. Nobody gave me a global answer, everyone made topical proclamations and neither a sense of Catalan unity nor a hint of Spanish strength was perceived. The latest speeches, debates included, have been to speculate on the intriguing formation of the government, as if only power were of interest. The published opinion has echoed this dialectic and it is beginning to be scandalous that no one clarifies the subsequent alliances. People have the right to know what will be done with their vote; That is, who you actually vote for.
And the third question, which seems fundamental to me: what is the most pressing current political problem and also the most difficult to solve? The territorial, in all the dimensions that we want to contemplate: loyalty, equality, acceptance of State norms, coexistence and, ultimately, the speeches that advocate independence. That’s why I await Sunday’s vote with passionate fascination. I don’t care as much about the result in seats of each party as the trend that society shows. From least to greatest, I need the polls to value Puigdemont’s escape as an act of bravery or condemn him because an escape is an act of cowardice, even if it is camouflaged as exile. I need the polls to tell me if Catalonia is moving towards independence slowly, but inexorably, or if it is giving a new margin to the Spanish State. I need to know if that State has gained acceptance or remains the hateful oppressor, despite the generosity of pardons, amnesties and annulments of crimes. I think that is what is at stake the day after tomorrow in Catalonia: a hint, a clue about our destiny as a nation.