The procés and the economic dispute have marked the first stages of the Catalan campaign for the general elections. In the debate organized by La Vanguardia and RAC1, the political conflict has capitalized on the disputes and scuffles between the eight candidates, leaving at times the struggle between the conservative block and the progressive block that stars in the contest in the whole of Spain in a second. flat, despite the attempts of socialists, popular and common to take the battle to that terrain, each with its nuances.
The unexpected electoral call on July 23 came after a poor result by the PSOE in the municipal and regional elections on May 28, a pattern more or less widespread throughout Spain, with the exception of Catalonia. That singularity also occurs now in the race of the generals. The Catalan socialists hold their own and all the polls predict that they will improve, which is why the president of the Congress of Deputies and number one of the PSC on 23-J, Meritxell Batet, was on the target of several candidates, left and right, for social and economic policies, but also due to the territorial conflict.
Apart from the blocs and the race for the first position, there are other open fronts, such as the one maintained by Junts and Esquerra for independence primacy – even the CUP, with Albert Botran, has reproached the Republicans for their way of negotiating in recent years –. Or that of ERC, which tries to stop the decline of 28-M, with the commons in the progressive camp. Although the Republican candidate, Gabriel Rufián, has assured the head of the Junts list, Míriam Nogueras, and En Comú Podem, Aina Vidal, that he “is not his adversary in this campaign”, just after demanding the pardons to the leaders of the process in minute one.
Nacho Martín Blanco, number one of the PP in Barcelona, ??has sought to tickle the Socialists by putting issues such as taxation on the table, just like that of the PDECat-Espai CiU, with Roger Montañola, who has claimed the peix al cove de Convergència without complexes. Batet, as the president of the central government, Pedro Sánchez, has done in recent months, has tried to bring water to his mill and talk about macroeconomic figures, while post-convergent and popular people blamed the socialists for the loss of purchasing power .
In the appointment there have been no shortage of issues from the last campaign, such as the chronic problems of Rodalies or the expansion of the El Prat airport, an issue that polarizes the discussion between left and right. In addition, issues that have added to the political pim pam pum at the last minute have been addressed, in passing, such as education and reading comprehension problems. Vox, with Juan José Aizcorbe, has unsuccessfully brought up other issues such as insecurity – which had its space in the municipal ones – or Islamization in the center of Catalonia, but nobody has entered the rag and has even taken the nickname of “don Pelayo”, for the reconquest.
The one who has made the most effort to make the debate visible to the confrontation between blocs has been Aina Vidal, from the commons, trying to put aside the conflict in Sumar and En Comú Podem over the referendum. The deputy from the purple confluence has sought complicity, at times, with ERC and PSC, but also the necessary distance to vindicate herself, yes, with a leisurely and conciliatory tone. Batet has picked up the gauntlet and has warned that there are only two options after July 23: Either a progressive government led by Pedro Sánchez or one headed by Alberto Núñez Feijóo. Even so, the Socialists want to concentrate the vote, rather than talk about coalitions. And Rufián and Vidal, shake their heads every time they verbalize it.
On the other spectrum, Martín Blanco and Aizcorbe have not displayed harmony or collaboration, despite coinciding at some point. The beginning has been distant between the two, but those of Abascal have ended up approaching the popular ones when post-electoral matters have entered.
On behalf of the PDECat, Montañola, the most incisive, has insisted time and again on turning the page on 2017 and the political conflict to talk about the situation of companies, taxes and the self-employed, while Nogueras has rescued the list of economic grievances and outstanding accounts of the State with Catalonia. The struggle between the two post-convergent brands has been a long time coming, but it has not missed the appointment.
Regarding the policy of pacts, the planned script has been fulfilled, although the PP has avoided coalitions with Vox despite Aizcorbe’s cooing, while Vidal has warned that “insisting on the concentration of the vote is a losing argument”. because “the thing will go of coalitions”. If Martín Blanco has demanded that the most voted list govern and State pacts “with high vision” in matters such as education or the economy, Batet has promised that the Catalan socialists will not invest Feijóo – he has recalled that they have already stood up to Mariano Rajoy in 2016–, and has called for a progressive government in the “cultural battle” of July 23. “The PP has never been a state party”, he has sentenced.
Faced with the refusal of the PSC, Martín Blanco has accused them of “frontism and populism”, throwing in the face the agreements with EH Bildu.
Among the pro-independence ranks, Rufián has reproached Junts and the CUP that in this last legislature ERC has felt “very alone” negotiating with the central Executive; and Nogueras has lamented the breaches and has expressed his skepticism towards any government, although his formation trusts to be decisive. “Having politicians who do not realize that they are being fooled until the fourth time is absolutely inefficient for our country,” he said, referring to the Republican spokesman in Madrid.
The CUP has demanded that the whole of the independence movement only invite those who contemplate the right of self-determination of Catalonia. Montañola, on the other hand, has opened the fan to the left and right, from Sumar to PP, with Vox as the red line. “It’s time to make them go through the box again,” he proclaims and warns.
The truth is that although everyone talks about defending Catalonia and its interests… each one wants to do it in their own way.
