A photograph by El Nacional showing government delegate Enric Millo, former minister Margallo and PSC's Iceta happy at the head of the demonstration organised by Societat Civil Catalana (Catalan Civil Society) this Sunday1, which immediately went viral, shows much more about the situation of the pro-union bloc in Catalan politics than any speech. In the first place, because the photo is unequivocal: Iceta is where he is of his own will, and what remains of PSC is with him. The party has accepted a subsidiary role in Catalan politics and its current travel companions are not part of its history, but this doesn't seem to worry them much.
The total of 7,000 protesters, according to Barcelona's Urban Guard, gives a reliable idea that one thing is the number of minutes you get on the Spanish regime's TV or radio stations or great newspapers and another is the reality in the streets. If the gathering wasn't a failure, it was very close to being one, given that from the images broadcast of the event it doesn't seem that the calculation was an underestimation.
And that's with the troupe of attendees from outside of Catalonia being, as normal for this type of event, significant. As well as Margallo, it featured former French prime minister Manuel Valls, already a regular at this type of celebration. Valls has reached quite the milestone recently: to occupy more space in Spanish than French media, his influence having dissolved away as he found a goldmine defending his anti-independence position. Valls isn't forgiven by the French left, first, for having reduced PS to almost insignificance; then, for having abandoned the party and, third, for having entered Macron's team governing France via the back door.
In Spain, Valls is now following Ciudadanos, now Albiol's Catalan PP. Like Alfonso Guerra2, also ever closer to Ciudadanos. When the left and right become confused, the former have nothing to do. Not nothing, they give very well-remunerated cameos.
Translator's notes:
1. The photograph in question is the second in the body of this article. From left to right, Enric Millo is the delegate of the central PP Spanish government to Catalonia, José Manuel García-Margallo is a PP politician, a long-term MEP before being Spain's foreign minister 2011-2016, and Miquel Iceta is head of the PSC, the Catalan affiliate of the national PSOE party. PP and PSOE have for years been the largest two parties in Spain, on the centre-right and centre-left respectively.
2. Alfonso Guerra was a member of Congress for PSOE from 1977 to 2015 and deputy prime minister from 1982 to 1991.