During the Hispanidad demonstration in Barcelona, I met the colleague of these same pages Sergio Fidalgo. And he told me he didn’t trust Illa. “The language policy is that of Esquerra Republicana,” he said.
There is no shortage of arguments. The new president has not yet touched TV3, he has maintained a language department – with an advisor appointed by Esquerra – and it does not seem that he will change the policy of the Generalitat on the matter.
But there are other good things. At least it makes institutional sense. He went to Madrid on October 12. Or he met the president of the TSJC, Jesús María Barrientos, one of the bête noire of the independence movement..
Not only because of the trials of Artur Mas for the 9-N or the Parliament Table, but because it was also he who, at the height of the process, ordered the National Police to replace the Mossos d’Esquadra in guarding the building. For what might happen.
Furthermore, in this case, it was done at the courthouse itself. When, by protocol, the President of the Generalitat receives in Palau. This is another example of institutional normality.
The socialist leader indeed seems determined to recover the image of Catalan institutions damaged by the process.. It is not in vain that they put themselves at the service of the cause: the Government, Parliament, the public service, TV3, the Catalan school, the Mossos.
There is an added benefit: Catalonia is no longer a preschool. When the King arrives, he is received. That would only be missing.
Here, in the process, not only were photos of the king burned – like that of the dean of the Faculty of Economics, Elisenda Paluzie, and that she is paid by the state – but they were boycotted or declared persona non grata.
Quim Torra said he would not go to any event organized by the monarch. As if Felipe VI cared about such a sensitive absence. One day he announced that he would go to the opening of the Mediterranean Games in Tarragona to sing its praises. He was seen in the photos in a submissive attitude while giving her a book.
Parliament also approved a resolution in August 2000 affirming that Catalonia was “republican”. This reminded me, you will forgive the historical digression, of the Catalan Civil War of 1462-1472.
When the Generalitat rose up against the king, in this case Juan II. Then they set off like madmen in search of another monarch: Henry IV of Castile, Peter of Portugal, René of Anjou. They all turned out to be frogs.
Or that time when Felipe VI visited Seat, the most important company in Catalonia, and the only representative of the Generalitat was Major Trapero. I think the photo of him saluting the king at attention cost him his job.
A few weeks later, the company’s advisor, Roger Torrent, visited the company’s headquarters as a sign of reparation. And ERC deputies took advantage of each plenary session of Parliament to throw flowers at the car manufacturer. They knew they had done something wrong.
I have always said that the moral damage of the process is greater than the material damage. Even the psychological ones. One of the worst was that our ruling class had lost its sense of ridicule. Which, according to Josep Tarradellas, must never be lost in politics.
