One of the open and deepest wounds in the Catalan bourgeoisie as a result of the process is that almost six years after the change of the registered office of thousands of companies, in the midst of a political crisis after the referendum of October 1, 2017 , no one, big or small, has made the journey back to Catalonia. Reason for dispute within its own ranks and also tension with a wide sector of independence, led by Carles Puigdemont himself, the former president of the Generalitat who took refuge in Waterloo, who then described it as treason.
The large Catalan business community, the main protagonist of the flight, considers that the sine qua non condition for the 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, which explicitly excludes referendums not agreed with the central government and unilateral declarations of independence.
According to his point of view, a commitment of these characteristics would serve as a catalyst for the growth and recovery of Catalonia’s role as the engine of the Spanish economy, while also opening the door to the growth of investment. Also, no less important for the economic elite, it would make it possible to recover their political influence in Spain. That is why he is betting that Pedro Sánchez’s possible investiture pact will establish the foundations for this.
Something very difficult, almost chimerical, according to many. Triggering this business return movement is one of the goals shared by business leaders and those around Puigdemont, leader and strongman of Junts. The new investiture of Sánchez as president of the Spanish Government will depend on the vote of this party in Congress, so that it would avoid the holding of another general election, as they have noted in the conversations held immediately after the 23-J and which transmit the sources consulted by La Vanguardia.
These contacts, channeled mainly through Josep Sánchez Llibre, the president of Foment, the big Catalan employer, on the one hand, and Puigdemont himself, but also people appointed by the latter, on the other, show the interest business to consolidate political normality in Catalonia.
The employer leader also keeps the big Catalan employers who are supporting the course of these prospective talks informed.
These are more political than economic movements. Both parties want to establish the basis 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, despite the fact that Junts’ parliamentary seats are decisive for Sánchez’s investiture, the Catalan Socialists have consolidated as the leading parliamentary force, with 400,000 votes more than the two great pro-independence forces together, in addition to the almost 500,000 in 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 the situation and are offering Junts as a lever or compensatory crutch for this political weakness, more necessary now that the electorate no longer seems to be there for the most part after the more unilateralist independence proposals. Puigdemont is now center stage as the kingmaker of the investiture, but in a hypothetical legislature his role would be much more diluted due to his limited parliamentary weight.
Obviously, the businessmen also realize their own impotence to act, and for this reason they also try to clear the path that allows the germination of a political arm that they do not have now. 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 the business community ended up giving its majority support, also through the vote.
Expectations dashed with the three-party pact of the PSC, the Commons and the PP that propelled Jaume Collboni to the mayor’s office. A decision that caused tensions between the socialist leaders; in the first place, Salvador Illa and the pro-homs of the bourgeoisie. However, this has not prevented contacts between both parties from resuming after 23-J, always with the idea of ??supporting the progress of the pact for Sánchez’s investiture.
It has been almost three years that business representation has been building bridges with pro-independence leaders, both from ERC and Junts. He moved between stilts to push the pardon to the prisoners of the process, headed by Oriol Junqueras, the president of ERC. He also postulated from the first moment, among other instances, before President Sánchez, the search for an exit for Puigdemont that would ensure that he would not go to prison and, therefore, pave the way for the incorporation of Junts into the normalized political life.
Sánchez Llibre has gone at least twice to Belgium to meet with Puigdemont. And from the evolution of these contacts, the protagonists want to extract positive indicators. From the initial refusal to do any management on his behalf for a pardon, which the former president conveyed to the employer leader, in January 2022, when he went to explain to him what he was doing after meeting with the prisoners of Lledoners, until the more specific discussion about the possible scenarios of a negotiation with the Central Government, in this case in May, at the gates of the generals.
The approach is easier with Junts than with ERC. The vision of the economy of the former converges, broadly speaking, with that of the entrepreneurs. Both parties share support for the expansion of El Prat airport, are in favor of significant tax cuts and, in general, agree to feel comfortable with a more liberalized and deregulated economy. This proximity has been concreted in different meetings with entrepreneurs; even with La Caixa, the main reference of the Catalan economy, the galaxy directed by Isidre Fainé. As a result, sources close to both sides 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 these issues. Nor have they managed to reach a minimum climate of trust or closeness. The last meeting between several prominent entrepreneurs and Junqueras, at the beginning of this year, brought this tension to the surface without any concrete approach.
