One of the deepest open wounds within the Catalan bourgeoisie as a consequence of the process is that almost six years after the change of the headquarters of thousands of companies, in the midst of a political crisis after the referendum on October 1, 2017, none of them, large or small, have undertaken the return trip to Catalonia. Reason for dispute within their own ranks and also for tension with a large sector of the independence movement, headed by Carles Puigdemont himself, the former president of the Generalitat who took refuge in Waterloo, who at that time called it treason.
The great Catalan business community, the main protagonist of this flight, considers that the sine qua non condition for return, even gradual, is a long-range global political agreement between the central government and the main political forces, including the Government of the Generalitat, that explicitly excludes referendums not agreed upon with the central power and unilateral declarations of independence.
According to his point of view, a commitment of these characteristics would serve as a boost for growth and the recovery of Catalonia’s role as the motor of the Spanish economy, at the same time that it would open the door to the growth of investment. Also, not least for the economic elite, it would make it possible to recover their political influence in Spain. That is why he is betting that the possible investiture pact of Pedro Sánchez lays the foundations for it.
Something very difficult, almost chimerical, according to many. Unleashing such a movement for business return is one of the objectives shared between business leaders and those around Puigdemont, leader and strong man of Junts, the party whose vote in Congress will depend on the new investiture of Sánchez as president of the Government, thus avoiding the holding of new general elections, as confirmed in the conversations held immediately after 23J and reported by the sources consulted by La Vanguardia.
These contacts, channeled above all through Josep Sánchez Llibre, the president of Foment, the great Catalan employers’ association, on the one hand, and Puigdemont himself, but also persons appointed by the latter, on the other, make clear the business interest in consolidating the political normality in Catalonia.
The employers’ leader also keeps the big Catalan businessmen who support the course of these prospective talks informed.
These are movements that are as much more political than economic. Both parties want to lay the foundations for the resolution of the political conflict between Catalonia and the State. The electoral reality in Catalonia has changed drastically since the hot years of the process and although the parliamentary seats of Junts are decisive for the investiture of Sánchez, the Catalan socialists have consolidated themselves as the first parliamentary force, with 400,000 more votes than the two great pro-independence forces together, in addition to the almost 500,000 of Sumar. ERC and Junts, for their part, have lost almost 600,000; more than 700,000 if the CUP is included in the calculation.
Business leaders have taken note of this situation and offer themselves to Junts as a compensatory lever or crutch for this political weakness, which is more necessary now that the electorate no longer seems to be majority behind the more unilateralist pro-independence proposals. Puigdemont is now at center stage as kingmaker of the investiture, but in a hypothetical legislature his role would be much more diluted due to his limited parliamentary weight.
Obviously, businessmen also see their own impotence to act and for this reason they also intend to clear the path that allows the germination of a political arm that they now lack. It is his own way of rebuilding the old tandem between pujolismo and the bourgeoisie, incipient with the result of the last municipal elections, the good result of Xavier Trias. The Junts candidate, to whom that business community ended up giving its majority support, also by voting.
Expectations truncated with the pact to three of PSC, Comuns and PP that promoted Jaume Collboni to the mayor’s office. A decision that generated tensions between the socialist leaders, in the first place Salvador Illa, and the notables of the bourgeoisie. Although this has not prevented contacts between the two parties from resuming after 23J, always with the idea of ??supporting the progress of the pact for the investiture of Sánchez.
The business representation has been building bridges with the pro-independence leaders, both from ERC and Junts, for almost three years. He moved behind the scenes to push for a pardon for the prisoners of the process, led by Oriol Junqueras, the president of ERC. He also postulated from the outset, among other instances before President Sánchez, the search for a way out for Puigdemont that would ensure that he will not go to prison and therefore clear the way for the incorporation of Junts into normalized political life.
Sánchez Llibre has gone to Belgium at least twice to meet with Puigdemont. And from the evolution of these contacts the protagonists want to extract positive indicators. From the initial refusal to have any action taken on his behalf for a pardon, which the former president transmitted to the employers’ leader, in January 2022, when he went to explain what he was doing after meeting with the Lledoners prisoners, to the more concrete discussion on the possible scenarios of a negotiation with the central government, in this case last May, at the gates of the general elections.
The approximation is easier with Junts than with ERC. The vision of the economy of the former converges broadly with that of businessmen. Both parties share their support for the expansion of El Prat airport, are in favor of notable tax cuts and in general agree that they feel comfortable with a more liberalized and deregulated economy. This proximity has materialized in different meetings with businessmen; even with La Caixa, the main reference of the Catalan economy, the galaxy directed by Isidro Fainé. As a result, sources close to both parties have agreed to ensure that “there is a situation of institutional respect.”
With the Government of the Generalitat, headed by President Pere Aragonès, they not only diverge on most of the aforementioned issues. Nor have they managed to achieve a minimum climate of trust or proximity. The last meeting between various prominent businessmen and Junqueras, at the beginning of this year, brought this tension to the surface without any concrete approximation taking place.
