Over two days, Saturday and Sunday, the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) has held its 15th Congress, organized prior to the calling of the Catalan election on May 12th, and it took advantage of the occasion to proceed with the re-election of Salvador Illa as Socialist candidate to the presidency of the Generalitat. The presence, 24 hours apart, of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and Pedro Sánchez at the gathering of the Catalan Socialists has left the image of an apparently tired and overworked Spanish prime minister. Very different from previous visits to Barcelona and from the communicative ability of Zapatero.
But beyond the intricacies of the party conference and the changes that have taken place in the leadership of the PSC, I want to highlight something that attracted my attention, not on the stage, but down in the audience, where not only the party delegates and the broad establishment of the Socialist family take their places, but also the guests. It offered an image that would be impossible to see, for example, in Madrid. And an example of tolerance, beyond the natural discrepancies between rival political parties, often intense but without reaching the oppressive levels of the capital of Spain.
There, sitting in the first few rows, was the entire parliamentary spectrum of the right and the left, as well as the pro-independence parties. On Saturday, on the opening day, there had been representatives of the People's Party and Ciudadanos; and on Sunday from the Republican Left, Together for Catalonia and the Comuns. Only Vox and the CUP failed to put it an appearance in the Palau de Congressos. Clearly, the political relations are not those of the last century, when there was talk of the Catalan oasis, or of the first decade of the 21st century. But nor is it the same as a few years ago, when the tension was palpable and the frontiers between pro-independence and pro-Spanish groups were veritable abysses across which no dialogue was possible.
After May 12th it will be necessary to reach consensus in order to govern and establish a climate of dialogue with the opposition, whoever governs
Going into the next Catalan elections with this attitude is undoubtedly good news. Above all because after May 12th it will be necessary to reach consensus in order to govern and establish a climate of dialogue with the opposition. That will be true whoever governs. The country will need consensus to move forward with projects that have either been left in limbo or haven't had the energy to become a reality today. It will also require the parties that have supported the amnesty bill in Madrid to be coherent in their political positions in Catalonia and to be resistant to the manipulation that will be attempted by the judiciary. The return to politics must be broad and with all the consequences.