Josep Piqué was one of those people with whom one could talk about any matter. It's not that he knew everything, but that he had an opinion on almost everything. His professional and political career was the best demonstration that he was capable of responding to the most diverse challenges. He had three values that are essential in this life, such as intelligence, empathy and audacity, which he knew how to apply in each and every one of his responsibilities. And those of us who knew him knew that he had the ability to know how to interpret the moments of history.
It should come as no surprise to no one that when we set up the advisory committee of the Godó Group in Madrid, we incorporated him into our team to find out his opinions and have his opinions available. A year ago I asked him to write for the newspaper again, because nobody like him to interpret geopolitics. Readers have read articles on Russia, Ukraine, the United States, the Arctic, the European Union, Latin America and China in recent months. A whole treaty of the world today. The last article he sent to the newsroom three weeks ago was headlined "Is China Capitalist?" and in it he warned that technological development was allowing China to outdo the United States in areas that were going to change our lives, such as artificial intelligence. His thesis was that China's social contract meant betting on material progress in exchange for political freedoms, which forced it to continue investing in sustained growth so that democratic demands would not reappear.
Piqué was a brilliant man, who moved by force ideas. In politics, he knew how to seduce Aznar, who made him the strong man of his government. His appointment as Foreign Minister was the best award he could have given him, because he was always fascinated by geopolitics. He agreed that we were both Robert Kaplan readers. At my last dinner with him, I remember that we talked about "Adriatic", a book in which the author considers that this sea is key to understanding the world since Catholics, Orthodox and Muslims coexist on its shores. And where the Latins and the Balkans share a gaze, while the West and the East converge.
Josep Piqué was a Catalan liberal, who Aznar always thought could change the history of the PP in Catalonia. He had a good electoral result, but the drafters of the new Statute left him out of the game, which was bad business for everyone, conditioning Catalan life in the following years. His departure from politics left a deep void in the field of moderates.
Piqué's disappearance is an irreparable loss. In moments as convulsed as the current ones, we will find his advice and his criteria lacking. Núñez Feijóo had rescued him for his foundation so that he could contribute his initiative and his talent in the face of the challenges that the country faces. A man with a vision of the State has left us, a modernizer of Spanish life, a character committed to his time. And above all, a convinced pactista.
