Pere Aragonès (Pineda de Mar, 1982) has been president of the Generalitat of Catalonia since May 24th, 2021 and is candidate of the Republican Left (ERC) for the Catalan election on May 12th, which he himself called early after failing to pass his government budget for 2024 in Parliament. He takes his place in the election race asserting that he is the candidate with the proposals in contrast, he argues, with his direct rivals, Salvador Illa and Carles Puigdemont, whom he criticizes for their lack of projects for the country. And he also expresses his pride in the work done while he has led the Generalitat, putting the focus on the economic statistics and defending the handling of crises such as the drought, the farmers' protests and the poor educational results, problems that his executive has had to face with only the support of the 33 deputies of his own party in Parliament, after the breakdown of the pro-independence majority which forced him to reach agreements with other parties throughout the legislature. In this interview with ElNacional.cat, he reviews the last three years, but with his eyes already set on the day after the elections.
It's time to take stock of the legislature and of all that you've done since assuming the presidency. How would you sum it up in one sentence?
It is very difficult to summarize so many things that have happened and also so many things we've done in one sentence. But when we started the legislature, there were nine political prisoners who are now free and we have the amnesty right around the corner. We began the legislature with a pandemic that had taken a huge human, health and economic toll, and today we have the lowest unemployment in 15 years and we have rebuilt the public services of the welfare state. Therefore, it is a legislature in which Catalonia has looked ahead and in which we will now take advantage of all the opportunities that we have been laying the foundations for these last three years.
If I now ask you to do the same exercise for the next legislature, how would you imagine the next four years?
I want to be re-elected as president of the Generalitat to face three issues that are fundamental to me. First of all, to take advantage of the window of opportunity in the negotiation with the state to agree on the basis of a referendum in which we can vote on the independence of Catalonia to resolve the political conflict. Achieving a unique financing regime for Catalonia and, therefore, ending the fiscal deficit that is a toll that hurts the country's hospitals, schools, care homes and infrastructure, and finally strengthening the welfare state and the Catalan language.
I guess there isn't a single policy that you've implemented as president that you would do away with, but are there any that, looking back with hindsight, you would have approached differently or changed?
I am happy with the work done. I wouldn't change any measures, but take the ones we have already done and expand them, complete them. If we managed to make Year 2 of nursery education free, now one of my commitments is to make all of early childhood education from 0 to 3 years old free and universal in nursery schools.
Obviously, it needs to rain, but with the data we have today, we don't foresee an increase in restrictions in the short term or over this summer either
Whatever happens in the elections, you are certain to be acting president at the beginning of the summer. Should the public expect more water restrictions in the coming months?
The rains of the last few weeks and the fact that we have activated all the water supply that does not come from the reservoirs gives us peace of mind, with the scenario we have today, that we won't have to spend summer in Emergency Phase II and that there should be no more restrictions than we have now. We have announced that we are to have a new system to supply water using a ship with a large desalination plant installed on it, which will make 35,000 cubic metres of water available to the metropolitan area every day. Looking at the summer season, we have a secure outlook. Obviously, it needs to rain, but with the data we have today, we don't foresee an increase in restrictions in the short term or over this summer either.
Does this desalination ship rule out tankers bringing water from other ports?
What this allows is that we won't have to resort to ships bringing water from desalination plants outside Catalonia, and that gives us peace of mind that there will be no problems on the route and, above all, lower costs. It is a proposal that we have been working on for months and that we can now announce, because we already have the technical guarantees of its solvency and implementation that were needed to be able to make the announcement.
Has the Catalan government acted with sufficient foresight in the face of this drought?
If we had not acted with foresight, we would have been in Emergency Phase III long ago. And we're not. We've had a drought for 42 months, we've activated all the systems to supply us with water and works have been carried out, apart from actions in areas of efficiency savings that are allowing us not to suffer any more.
Another sector suffering from the drought is tourism. How will the pool management measures go?
What we've done in the decree law is summarise the parliamentary mandate that introduced more flexibility in putting water from private desalination plants to use in the swimming pools of hotels and tourist establishments. What is most important is that the water coming from the reservoir and public desalination plants network is kept for the domestic and economic uses for which it is intended. If someone can desalinate water with a private mechanism, what we do is make it easier for them to do so by assuming the cost. In addition, the municipalities have asked us to take into account that there are many towns in which swimming pools are a climate shelters in summer. What we do is give the councils the legal capacity to designate those swimming pools that are climate shelters, of which the vast majority will be municipal swimming pools - and if there is some private swimming pool in a campsite or some other type of private property that can be made available as a climate shelter open to the public, to legally enable that to happen.
The drought has recently been one of the major headaches for Catalans, but there is another one which is access to housing. From the Generalitat, what can be done to make renting in Catalonia less expensive?
Until we have the tools to regulate the market that independent states have, there will be many things we cannot do. But there are also areas in which we are acting, such as being able to have housing for socially-assisted rent, as we have done this legislature, with the aim of reaching 10,000 dwellings at the beginning of 2026. And in parallel, better regulation to establish a barrier to the increase in rental prices in rent tension areas. This is a problem that exists in Catalonia, but also in many other places in Europe.
If Salvador Illa were president after May 12th, the Catalan language will be at risk
Catalonia scored very poorly in education in the latest PISA report. What can we do to overcome this crisis?
It is one of the country's most important priorities, not only for the government, but for Parliament and society as a whole. To tackle this, we need to continue with the budget allocation in the field of education - and this is the legislature in which we have reversed the cuts, and some very specific areas must also be strengthened, such as reading and mathematics. Schools have to respond to a much more diverse student population than a few years ago, with phenomena such as "live enrolment", that is, the incorporation of students throughout the course as a result of the migration process we are experiencing. This requires resources, such as those provided for in this budget. One of the elements I most regret in the fact that the Comuns Sumar and Together for Catalonia (Junts) prevented the passing of the budget is that a very large increase, 10%, was foreseen for education, which allowed us to take a leap forward. Unfortunately, this will have to wait, because two parties decided irresponsibly to reject the budget.
In your party's electoral programme, the defence of the language plays an important role and you have highlighted the investment efforts made during the past legislature. Even so, the social use of Catalan is worse than ever. Do you fear that it is already impossible to reverse the trend?
Throughout our history, the enemies of our language have decreed the death of Catalan many times and each time we have denied them. We will do the same again now. We need tools and we need everyone's commitment. The government plays a very important role in this, which is why in recent years we have increased the resources allocated to language policy. But we need this to continue over time and I think it's at risk now. I am convinced that it will not happen, but I have the obligation to state that if Salvador Illa were president after May 12th - a person who changes his language at the first excuse, who does not defend the Catalan language and who has given up on linguistic immersion, of which the Catalan Socialists (PSC) was the driving force 40 years ago, and now embraces the model of trilingualism proposed by Ciudadanos (Cs), all this will be in danger. And in the same way, when Junts exercised the responsibilities for language policy, it was terribly low.
It doesn't surprise me that people no longer talk about Hard R. It was an excuse used by the parties to position themselves
In the failure to pass the budget there were many factors, but one precipitant was called Hard Rock. At the moment, it has practically not entered in the campaign. Does that surprise you?
No, because it was an excuse used by the parties to position themselves. It's a debate that had nothing to do with budget and was intentionally mixed up.
What is ERC's idea for this project?
We have always been clear about it, it is a project backed by a law and with a parliamentary majority behind it, regardless of what ERC had decided this legislature, because the PSC, Junts and the People's Party (PP) support it enthusiastically. For me, it is not the priority in the Camp de Tarragona county, which is to promote reindustrialisation.
If your ability to form a government depends on the Comuns and they raise the issue of the Hard Rock again but the PSC again demands that it be maintained, what would happen?
After May 12th, in order to construct alliances, I will put on the table what I consider to be the three criteria: face up to the negotiation on the referendum, obtain a unique financing regime and strengthen the welfare state and the Catalan language. From that point, from the demands put forward by the other groups, they will have to be taken into account and then see if the necessary majorities are there.
The independence movement must work to generate stable government frameworks for the country, because, when this happens, it has much more strength to face all future challenges.
Speaking of alliance policies, has the 52% majority of pro-independence votes [in the 2021 Catalan election] been wasted in this legislature?
I regret that the majority with which we started the legislature was unable to have continuity. But here there have been some political groups that took decisions - for me, incomprehensible ones - and especially Junts, when it decided to leave the government. This way of doing things is not what Catalonia needs. The independence movement must work to generate stable government frameworks for the country, because, when this happens, it has much more strength to face all future challenges. We had to work with 33 deputies right throughout the legislature. But if with 33 deputies the political prisoners have been released, sedition has been eliminated, today we have the amnesty, and at the same time we have had the biggest budget in history, which grew by 30% without raising a single tax , if we have the lowest unemployment in the last 15 years... If we have done all this with 33 deputies, let's imagine everything we could do if instead of 33, we had a few more who would give us much more strength.
Are you saying that you live better in a government alone with 33 MPs than in a coalition?
What I am saying is that despite having 33 MPs, this country has improved a lot. And that, therefore, if we had had more than 33, we would have been able to progress even more.
When you are negotiating an amnesty for hundreds of people, you often have to bite your tongue
A few days ago, you said you had got tired due to not answering the lies of your political rivals. Seen in perspective, do you think it has been a mistake to remain silent, as you said yourself, out of responsibility and now have to break the silence during the election campaign?
I would do it again, I would make the same decisions again that I made in this legislature. When you are negotiating an amnesty, which is so important for the hundreds of people who have been retaliated against, you often have to bite your tongue. And when you have the passing of a budget in your hands, you find other political parties making statements that are, from my point of view, demagogic and maybe you have to bite your tongue again, because the goal is to pass the budget. I believe that now on May 12th there is a decision that must be made by the people of Catalonia, and Salvador Illa's only project is Spain and, as for Carles Puigdemont, beyond the return of Carles Puigdemont, he is not telling us what his proposals are. This is very obvious and I think it should be put on the table and explained.
In terms of policies over alliances, both Illa and Puigdemont have spoken out. The first says that he could reach agreement with everyone except Vox, and Puigdemont has also said that the first person he would call if he needed your votes would be you. Are you equally clear about alliance policies?
My criterion is clear: agreed referendum, unique funding, reinforcement of the welfare state and the Catalan language. This is what I want to do in the next legislature as president of the Generalitat. When I walk down the street, people ask me about this, or about improving schools and public services, no one asks me who I'm going to call on the evening of May 12th. Probably, whoever picks up the phone first, but always explaining that the next legislature must be about this. If these goals are guaranteed, I think the individual role is secondary.
In 93 years, in the Republican Left we haven't changed our name or our ideology
All the parties imagine themselves governing and, in any case, seeking the support of the different groups because no one can see it possible to have [the absolute majority of ] 68 MPs on the night of May 12th itself. But if you were in second or third position and Carles Puigdemont calls you, will you be there?
We have always acted responsibly with the country, always. And we are very clear about what our goals are. On the night of May 12th, depending on the result, it will be necessary to see what the margins are. I represent a political party, the Republican Left, which has a 93-year history. And we have always defended the same thing: a progressive party, with republican values and a defender of the freedom of Catalonia. In 93 years, we have neither changed our name nor changed our ideology. And, therefore, we define ourselves by what we propose, not by other projects that we respect a lot but are not ours.
After May 12th, different scenarios open. Either you are president of the Generalitat, or you are vice-president of a coalition government, or you are head of the opposition or you are in the ranks of the opposition. Do you reject any of them?
I will not be vice-president of a government after having been president of the Generalitat de Catalunya. Because the presidents of the Generalitat de Catalunya represent the institution beyond the time we are in office. Apart from that, I will remain committed to my political project and committed to Catalonia in any circumstance. I hope that it will continue to be from the presidency of the Generalitat of Catalonia and if it is not so, then from May 12th we will see what the scenarios are. But I will always act, not influenced by personal interest, but understanding that, when you have been president of the Generalitat, you have a duty to the institution forever, even when you are not in office, as all my predecessors have shown.
I will not be vice-president of a government after having been president of the Generalitat de Catalunya
Do you see yourself more as leader of the opposition?
Where I see myself most is as president of the Generalitat de Catalunya, therefore, I will fight to make it so. In politics, when you have had a commitment for many years, before having any institutional position, with certain values and ideals, you'll always remain active, in any circumstance and, obviously, adapted to the results on May 12th.
Depending on the results, there could be a repeat election. If so, will the Republican Left do everything possible to prevent it from happening?
First we have to wait for the May 12 results. But I think that all of us who run in these elections are working so that in these elections a Parliament will emerge that can form a government, and this is the first objective, obviously.
But if it depends on ERC, what will happen first? A president of the Generalitat, even if not from ERC, or an electoral repetition?
We, the agreements reached to invest me as president, or for any other scenario that there may be, will always be based on an agreed referendum, unique financing, reinforcement of the welfare state and the Catalan language. Therefore, since it is a very hypothetical scenario, with many conditions...
You cannot certify that there will be no repeat election.
Out of respect for the voters and the public and whoever is [reading] this, we cannot, in scenarios that we don't yet know, say that one thing or another will happen. But I obviously don't want a repeat election. Of course not. We hope that on May 12th the scenario will be clear enough so that a government can be formed and, let me say it, so that I can continue as president of the the Generalitat of Catalonia.