José María Aznar called on Tuesday for national mobilization against the amnesty demanded by the Catalan independentists and just 24 hours later the PP already set a date for a large protest event in Madrid. It will be September 24. The PP never fails and its starting position in any negotiation or pact between the PSOE and Basque and Catalan nationalism is that of frontal opposition. Thus, he collected signatures against the reform of the Statute in 2006 and took it to the Constitutional Court, or he opposed the pardons against the independence leaders of the process. However, when the PP has governed and has needed the support of CiU or PNV it has never had problems increasing self-government or granting new transfers to Catalonia or the Basque Country.
In the case at hand, the PP has the logical doubts and resentment that has been caused in many Spanish citizens by the possibility of a general amnesty being granted to the independence leaders without them having made any act of contrition or renouncing unilaterality. But perhaps it is worth remembering that the dialogue process between the two parties is still in a very preliminary phase and we will have to see at the final moment what kind of amnesty we are talking about and if Junts and ERC end up accepting a declaration as a bargaining chip. in favor of respecting current legislation. Pedro Sánchez risks, and he risks a lot, since the amnesty was not on his roadmap. Carles Puigdemont, in turn, will also have to move towards the agreement and this means making some resignations.
Until the hypothetical agreement is reached between the two parties, everything is mere speculation. The initiative of Sánchez and Puigdemont to explore this path of negotiation towards a historic compromise agreement is already something very positive. That's where we are. On the contrary, it is difficult to know what alternative the PP can offer today in the face of a problem that, let us not forget, was created under the mandate of the then president Mariano Rajoy. If the PP wants to have a greater presence in Catalonia and the Basque Country, with a view to having a future majority, it must think about something more than mobilizing the streets.
