The former president of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Jordi Pujol, has broken his silence in the middle of the negotiations between the Spanish Socialists (PSOE) and Together for Catalonia (Junts), just the day after king Felipe VI tasked Pedro Sánchez with attempting to form a government. In exclusive statements to ElNacional.cat, Pujol advised the negotiators not to "fall into candour". The former president did not explicitly direct this message at anyone by name, but it was easily interpreted as a piece of advice to the Junts leader and president-in-exile, Carles Puigdemont.
At the same time, Pujol advises those engaged in talks with the Spanish party to be "demanding" when reaching a hypothetical pact, which would be the first agreement that Junts, and more specifically Carles Puigdemont, has reached with a Spanish government since the holding of the independence referendum of October 1st 2017, the unilateral declaration of independence that followed it, and the imposition of direct rule on Catalonia under Article 155 of the Constitution.
In Pujol's opinion, this firmness must serve "to ensure that we are not deceived". The CiU politician who was Catalan president for 23 years remembers that his party reached agreements with Spanish prime ministers Adolfo Suárez (UCD), Felipe González (PSOE) and José María Aznar (PP) and for this reason he has some background in the subject: "With some aspects of the Pact of the Majestic [1996, with Aznar] we were not deceived and Spain acted in accordance with those criteria. But not all". Pujol recalls that after Aznar's first legislature (in which the PP needed parliamentary support) came the second in which, with an absolute majority, a recentralizing offensive began.
Given all that, Jordi Pujol considers that with the current situation, the possible agreement between the PSOE and the pro-independence parties must not be limited to a simple transfer of powers, as happened with the Majestic pact in 1996. To sum it up, Pujol is very clear about the mentality that can prevail in the Spanish state leadership and that it needs to be watched carefully: "[they might think:] 'we'll solve this because we'll transfer Rodalies to them...' But what a cheek! They should have done that long ago. This won't solve the problems. The transfer must be made, like so many other things, but the problem is more essential".
As a priority for these essential issues, says Jordi Pujol, Catalonia must continue maintaining its identity, with the language at the forefront. "It is clear that the economy is very important, it is clear that infrastructure is very important, it is clear that the social model is very important. But there is one unique thing that is Catalonia's identity. And that identity is the backbone of the nation; it must not be lost."
In the same area, Pujol reflects on immigration and recalls the capacity that Catalonia has always had to absorb citizens from other countries and that "they have ended up integrating and speaking Catalan". The former president says that his maxim that "anyone who lives and works in Catalonia is Catalan" is still valid, but he affirms that in order to maintain this model, the Generalitat must have its own tools to regulate migration flows, both in terms of their arrival and their employment and social integration. These are powers that he had already requested during his time as president and that no Spanish government ever yielded, not even when this chapter was included in the 2006 Catalan Statute of Autonomy, overturned by Spain's Constitutional Court in 2010.
A pact "with an historic sense, that lasts"
The former president of Catalonia underlines the instability that Spain is experiencing today, which he describes as "a crisis situation" and for this reason he highlights the opportunity that exists "because Spain must also make a reflection" which - he continues - "will not be easy". It is at this point that Pujol's words connect with those of Carles Puigdemont when he appealed to an agreement with an historical character, and not a deal of minimums, if the PSOE wants the votes of Junts. "Something must be made," says Pujol, "that can last through history", that is to say, an agreement "with a sense of permanence and duration", of which "it won't be said that after 5, 10 or 20 years that it is of no use". And he concludes: "Therefore yes, with an historic sense".
The former leader of CiU, and expert negotiator with successive tenants of Spain's Moncloa palace, stands up for the role of guarantors of stability played by Catalan and Basque nationalisms in very difficult moments for each Spanish government such as the post-Franco transition, the consequences of the 23F coup attempt, the entry of Spain into the European Union, the management of economic crises or the admission of Spain to the single European currency. In these different episodes, Pujol recalls that "Catalonia was loyal and we voted in favour of Spanish government budgets without a single amendment in order not to bring down the government of the day". In a certain sense, Pujol regrets that this loyalty was not reciprocated and mentions various grievances such as Catalonia's eternal funding deficit, the recentralization of powers that had already been transferred to autonomous communities, the refusal to transfer new competences "despite Constitutional Court rulings, such as the university scholarships", or the one that blew everything to pieces: Spain's negative response to an authentic generational pact, that of the Statute of 2006. But was it the last? "No, there is more after that: for example the Wert law". Indeed, Pujol has strong words for the law named after the education minister who spoke of "Spanishizing Catalan children" and which in practice meant reversing linguistic immersion, one of the main models of understanding achieved in the 80s at the request of his governments and with the approval of the different executives. The rest, he says, is history.
Pujol's visit to El Nacional's new offices
Jordi Pujol made these statements as part of an institutional visit to El Nacional's new facilities, which include a new newsroom and new audiovisual department. The man who was president of the Generalitat between 1980 and 2003 was received by the editor and director of the newspaper, José Antich, with whom he took a tour of the newspaper's new base. It was at the end of the visit when, asked if he wanted to make a statement, the former Catalan president answered positively and agreed to record his reflections on the current political situation, strongly marked by the prominence of the pro-independence parties (and especially Junts) in the governability of Spain. A governance in which, in earlier times, CiU played a central role, under the presidencies of Adolfo Suárez and especially with Felipe González in 1993 and José María Aznar in 1996.