The president of Catalonia, Pere Aragonès, has decided to accept the invitation to go to the Spanish-French summit that is to be held at the National Art Museum of Catalonia (MNAC), on Barcelona's Montjuïc mountain, on 19th January. To me it seems a good decision. It is the response appropriate to the president of the Generalitat of Catalonia, as the country's highest authority figure. Power must be occupied whenever possible and nothing is gained by leaving empty the chair that belongs to him and turning his back on the president of the French republic, Emmanuel Macron. Our neighbouring country is not just any state in the international arena, nor in its trade relations with Catalonia: in 2022, the value of sales by Catalan companies abroad grew by 16% to reach an historical record of 93.5 billion euros, the equivalent of a third of Catalonia's GDP. And the number one country to which Catalan companies exported was France, with 16% of the total, a long way ahead of the second, Germany, which barely gets into double digits.
The problem is not being there or not being there, but being there for what, with what goal. The point is to denounce, loudly and clearly, the offensive and unacceptable presentation of the summit that Pedro Sánchez and his government have made, holding up the trophy of a false and non-existent normalization of the political situation in Catalonia. Having a subsidiary role in an inter-state summit is not the problem either. Although you may not like it, it is not a meeting between three states, but rather two, the Spanish and the French. What the Catalan president must do well is to represent the institution and ensure that the position has the dignity that is expected in a situation like this. Convey before, during and after, to as many authorities as possible, that the judicial repression continues and that Catalonia persists in its goal of becoming an independent state. Explaining this in the same way to the foreign media - to whom, by the way, someone should have already taken it upon themselves to summon on the eve of the meeting to the Palau de la Generalitat; that, at least, was how politics used to be done.
Because this institutional position is perfectly compatible with the mobilization that the independence movement is preparing, supported by the three convening sovereignist entities - Òmnium Cultural, Catalan National Assembly (ANC) and Council of the Republic - to make it clear that Pedro Sánchez and Spain have not won the battle and the pro-independence bodies have not been expelled from the political scene. The Spanish government and especially the minister for the Prime Minister's Department, Félix Bolaños, have chosen their words badly and someone should have warned them that, when tension is high, giving your adversary a poke often has consequences.
A protest that, as well, will see a united stand by the pro-independence bloc. Something that is not that frequent at present. It's not a real unity, as it's all a bit artificial, but that's probably better than nothing. The capital of the 52% pro-independence vote achieved at the polls on February 14th 2021 was thrown irresponsibly into the dustbin of history some time ago, and now one can only give performances to keep alive the memory of a past that no longer exists. It will also be important how the pro-independence civil groups and parties play their role in the rally. The civil groups, in terms of setting in motion all their machinery to achieve a mobilization that will be significant. The political forces, through the presence of their most important leaders. The fact of Laura Borràs, Jordi Turull and the rest of the Junts executive being there is not the same as them not being there. In the same way that, absent the president and the members of the Catalan government, it is not the same for the Catalan Republican Left delegation to be headed by Oriol Junqueras rather than some other leader of lesser status. That will also be the way of measuring whether the political will is to be at the demonstration or simply to put the best possible face on it.