Aina Vidal (Barcelona, 1985) is the head of the Sumar list for Barcelona. It was a surprise for her to replace Jaume Asens, but her choice responds to the need to put the process aside to emphasize labor and social policies. She believes that on 23-J we risked "our lives" due to the threat of PP and Vox and that is why she reaches out to ERC, who sees an electoral threat in Yolanda Díaz.
You say that it was a surprise to be chosen as a candidate. Jaume Asens wanted to repeat.
He made a personal decision, he explains the reasons in a letter and I want to thank him for his spectacular work. The country would not be understood without him because he has contributed to Catalonia being in a very different situation from four years ago. We continue to count on him and we are delighted.
Is it true that Podemos negotiated a common list with ERC?
Commons have not lied.
I mean, it was true
Commons never tell lies.
Can the disagreements between Yolanda Díaz and Podemos before the agreement take their toll?
I don't think so. Nothing like this had ever been achieved in a democracy. That 15 formations agree implies combining different wills, but I am proud that the commons have been part. It's historical.
How is the demobilization of the left reversed?
People are very aware of the situation. We are playing the game in two possibilities: PP and Vox on the one hand, which would be the absolute regression as we are seeing with the agreements in the Valencia Community, the Balearic Islands and Extremadura, and the other is to continue advancing. What we are at stake in these elections are human lives. The alliance of hate means going back on elementary things, which have to do with language, with the territorial fact, but also with denying gender violence, with discriminating against groups such as trans people... This is what we are at stake, we risk lives. Part of the demobilization comes, among other reasons, because we spend the day talking about ourselves and this must change in this campaign talking about the program.
To what do you attribute the rise of the extreme right in Spain?
In reality, it is not that there are many more, what happens is that the right has exploded and this is explained little. There is always talk of the division on the left but in reality, the one that is really divided is the right. With the disappearance of Ciudadanos, which had 50 seats in Congress, their votes migrate to other similar options.
Do you not see Pedro Sánchez combative enough?
We are discovering a Pedro Sánchez that if he had been treading the media as he is doing now, perhaps the situation would be different. But he meant that it is very sad that at this point they want to convince us to go vote out of fear. This is what the PSOE appeals to when talking about uniting the vote. These elections go from four parties: PP and Vox or Sumar and PSOE. What I expect from the PSOE is that they run a positive campaign because scaring people away doesn't work. People don't mobilize out of fear, they mobilize out of hope.
Do you agree with him when he denounces that the right tries to dehumanize him?
It has not only happened with Sánchez. The right-wing media have crossed many red lines. The persecution that Irene Montero and Pablo Iglesias have suffered, for example, is unacceptable in a democracy, and Sánchez has also been one of the people affected. We have become accustomed to the fact that through the networks we only receive hate.
Would a new coalition government be more placid?
Yolanda Díaz has led important reforms such as the minimum wage, the labor reform, the ryder law; She has defended fundamental issues that we have in the program that have to do with responding to the needs of the people and we have not always agreed with the PSOE. There are discrepancies but we don't have to turn it into something traumatic. We are two different parties and what is enriching is that we have the ability to reach an agreement.
Are Sánchez and Pablo Iglesias macho, as Yolanda says?
Deep down we all are. We have grown up in a society that is macho and machismo is structural. We need to build ourselves differently and feminism has become one of the most important engines of transformation. I think Yolanda was referring to this. It is unfortunate that Sánchez talks about "amigotes" or reproaches issues related to feminism. And the PP has laid out a red carpet for Vox, giving away fundamental institutions to people who are openly sexist, anti-vaccination, opposed to recognizing that sexist violence exists.
The President of the Government points to the "undesired effects" of the yes-is-yes law. Was it all the fault of the judges?
This law makes us pioneers by introducing consent into the Penal Code. It is revolutionary and a change of status, but the law goes much further. He understands that machismo is structural and that the answer cannot be only from the Penal Code. It's what we've always done and it doesn't work. A much more comprehensive policy is needed and that is what the law does in the field of education, training for police forces and among judges.
But it had to be fixed...
All the laws are and can be improved, but I am sure that with the PP what comes out will not defend the rights of women. It is not credible that the PSOE make a reform within the framework of feminism hand in hand with the PP. Nobody believes it.
ERC has been very belligerent with Yolanda Díaz. Will we have to rebuild bridges?
It is that we want to build bridges with ERC, of course. These are elections in which the entire left has to go together and not confuse the enemy. But ERC also has to do some thinking. They have had difficult moments, to put it in some way, such as the vote on the labor reform with PP and Vox.
In fact, the PP now recognizes that it was a mistake to vote against.
That does not believe anyone. They say that because they have made a fool of themselves in the last four years in Europe. They went to betray the country they say they love so much and to ask Europe to give us less European funds. In such a difficult situation, the PP's response was to go to Europe to betray their country. What Feijóo is trying to do is rebuild bridges because they have made a fool of themselves in Europe.
And what about Puigdemont?
I want to be cautious, but we must continue in the line that we have defended: the dejudicialization of politics. We have come a long way but there is still a long way to go and this is a good example of it. The path is the same: dejudicialization, dialogue and push the PSOE to take steps in this direction.
Sumar will include the referendum in its program, but what solution do you propose for Catalonia?
Various strategies have been tried and the unilateral route has been shown to have failed. We said freedom, dialogue and solutions four years ago and that is exactly what has happened. We got the pardons, there is a dialogue table and now the presidents speak to each other, also the ministers. In addition, we wanted solutions and we have reformed the Penal Code. We have learned that progress is made through dialogue, that things happen through agreements. We will not renounce the referendum because it is part of our ideology but we defend that it is not only about the referendum, but also about Rodalies, financing, powers... National rights must be compatible with social rights and Catalonia deserves to advance in the two subjects.
If the PP governs, will the processism emerge again?
Don't know. If the PP governs, it will imply a cut in our lives. We see it wherever they govern, where the first thing they do is raise their salaries, reduce taxes for the rich, go against the LGTBI collective, deny gender violence... No one in Catalonia believes that a PP and Vox government can be beneficial or that we can survive the temporary Gloria that this electoral ticker supposes.
You are very belligerent with projects like the B-40 or the expansion of the airport
The territory does not agree with the expansion of the airport because it supposes a greater tourist mass than we have and because it has its back to climate change. We cannot tell lies. There is more and more drought, more heat waves, we will have a problem with water and making these infrastructures bigger is going against reality. And on the fourth belt, the territory has been mobilizing against it for many years. This is not about more cement but about having passable, safe roads, and betting on trains. We need a real commitment to trains. Internal mobility in Catalonia is worse than when you have to move to another autonomous community.
With the loss of the mayoralty of Barcelona, and regardless of the decision that Colau makes with his future, the commons lack comparable leadership. Is it a pending issue?
The commons are a cohesive, strong organization that has leaders and a lot of youth. But we have Ada Colau because she is not only a reference but one of the people who best explain what the commons project is. What we were unable to do before we have done with the commons and we have been pioneers because Sumar would not be explained if there had not been the experience of the commons.
