The president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, presented a return plan so that the talent that in recent years has gone abroad in search of better opportunities returns to Catalonia, which is where they were trained. “We are a host country, but also a country of departure,” Aragonès clarified together with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Meritxell Serret. According to the Government, half a million Catalans have left to seek a life, a significant part of whom are highly qualified. The problem is that the plan lacks attractions for those who have made the decision to settle in another country, because they give them what they cannot find in their own, to decide to return.
Serret said that this was a support plan, as if talent needed a hand-holding, and instead what many executives, professionals or scientists expect is that Catalonia offers good salaries, attractive jobs and reasonable taxes. And a political stability that has not yet materialized. The plan includes a single window to complete the procedures to return home, actions aimed at teaching the Catalan language in the countries of origin or access to the health card and the digital identity certificate.
Does anyone seriously think that this is the master formula for return? On the same day that the Generalitat made this announcement, full of good faith but empty of weighty initiatives, it was known that Madrid has grown twice as much as Catalonia in the last twelve years and that the GDP per capita of Catalans occupies fourth position in Spain, below the EU average. And it is also the first community in taxes.
A few days ago, professor Joan Mas Canti, 94 years old, gave a conference at Foment, with Jordi Pujol in the front row, where he expressed that the independence movement had been a mistake, which had harmed Catalonia. It is not about tearing one's clothes, but about taking advantage of this political moment to improve financing, the distribution of powers and the recognition of uniqueness. The results of education, the shortcomings in health or the doubts in infrastructure do not encourage a return. The Government lacks ambition and has plenty of excuses.
