Pilar Rahola says that my open letter to Carles Puigdemont was “an infamous article”. He will be right, as always. I am indecisive and hesitant by nature: I find the confidence with which this lady expresses herself admirable. I say this without irony.
The adjective “infamous” encourages me to explain myself a little more. The letter I wrote was highly commented, both by the readers of La Vanguardia and on social networks. I immediately realized that many readers read it more aware of their prejudices than of the literalness of the text.
Puigdemont supporters interpreted it as a cruel attack on the president on October 1. The anti-independence supporters wanted to applaud me with a similar argument, albeit in the opposite direction: “A good setback,” they said.
What for some and others was a personal attack, actually (I do not rule out my incompetence) I wanted to be a humanizing criticism. On the one hand, I empathized with his dramatic personal situation, which I fear is irreversible. He praised the suffering of the person of Puigdemont, so denigrated in recent years.
However, the article was also a harsh political criticism. I honestly believe that I achieved a very modest squaring of the circle: humanizing the figure of the person of Carles and, at the same time, summarizing my critical vision of the movement that he embodies, because it has led Catalonia to the alley of irrelevance.
Yes, irrelevance. In these post-electoral days, two planes are being confused. The importance of tactics and the sense of strategy. Strategically, the independence process has been a disastrous current (which does not exclude other responsibilities in the disaster). The two pivots of Catalan identity are seriously injured: the Barcelona economic axis and the situation of the Catalan language.
However, electoral chance gives Puigdemont and his current a tactical role. Suddenly, Puigdemont has indeed achieved great relevance; although fleeting. Whatever his decision, the tactical role will pass. The important thing is to hit the strategic turn that the country needs to recover its economic and cultural strength. Everyone talks about tactics. But it’s the undercurrent that counts; and, be careful, it has very murky waters.
