Two ideas have been made very clear by Oriol Junqueras this afternoon after the municipal elections: Gabriel Rufián will repeat as a candidate for the general elections that Pedro Sánchez announced this morning for July 23, and that it is necessary to “recompose the consensus in the independence movement ”. ERC wastes no time. And he has also highlighted a third aspect after yesterday’s results: that he “has no interest” in making it easier for Jaume Collboni, the PSC candidate, to become mayor.

During the press conference, Junqueras continues to resort to the formula “it is evident that the results are not what we would like” to avoid saying that, directly, they have been bad. This noon he has used it again to refer to the loss of more than 300,000 lost votes, which with 6% represents the largest percentage drop of all the parties in Catalonia, or the impossibility of repeating the mayoralty in Lleida, Tarragona, Figueres or Sant Cugat del Valles.

However, the president of ERC has not clarified how he intends to re-weave that pro-independence unity, “We always appeal to rebuild trust in the pro-independence space”, he has limited himself to saying, while recalling that after the municipal elections of 2019 “the vast majority” of pacts were formed with Junts or the CUP, “so you don’t have to speculate much” to know what ERC’s priority will be. Of course, Junqueras has ruled out another electoral advance, this time by Pere Aragonès, in Catalonia.

The high abstention rate has affected the pro-independence parties, especially Esquerra. Junqureas has indicated that the data forces his formation to listen to those who opted four years ago, but this time “they have stayed at home or have abstained.” “You have to make an effort to connect with these people,” stressed the ERC leader while pointing out that the call for elections at the end of July also makes it necessary to do so quickly.

“We would like to be able to raise a true wave of independence and progressives and in defense of all freedoms in the face of a conservative wave, with the results of the PP and Vox,” Junqueras highlighted. The Republican believes that his formation is “the best antidote” to the Spanish right and extreme right.