Catalan pragmatism above any other consideration. The traditional desire of Barcelona’s economic elites, to be politically decisive in Madrid, is hinted at after a long journey through the desert following last Sunday’s general elections. In these first steps of what can be sensed as a long negotiation to form a government, the Catalan bourgeoisie is trying not to be just a mirage. In the coming months it will be seen if the tragedy will become a farce or if more hopes can be fueled.
Once the PP government has been ruled out, by electoral verdict, and the grand coalition or a general understanding between the popular and the socialists, due to the climate of political shock between the two, the pact of the PSOE and Sumar with the nationalist and independence parties is considered the best exit before repeating the elections. In Barcelona, ??obviously, not in Madrid, where they don’t even want to hear about a reissue of Pedro Sánchez’s government. And some Catalan business leaders have already begun to apply to make this agreement possible.
Together, a political force that incorporates, asleep, the leathery convergent gene, its benchmark for decades, holds the key to the legislature. He is the kingmaker of the new Spanish Parliament, as the influential Financial Times newspaper described Carles Puigdemont, the former president of the Generalitat refugee in Waterloo (Belgium), to the great joy of the leaders of the pro-independence formation. In addition, reinforcing this trend, the Catalan socialists, led by Salvador Illa, have gained prominence as a result of their decisive electoral contribution to the survival of Sanchism.
Nevertheless, in this new opportunity for Catalan relevance in Spain, it is difficult to guess what goes beyond appearances from the point of view of economic powers.
On July 23, the distance between Catalan businessmen and Puigdemont was palpable. So palpable that they barely voted for him. The same people who supported Xavier Trias to oust Ada Colau from the mayor’s office of Barcelona overwhelmingly opted for Alberto Núñez Feijóo. Last Sunday it was found that on May 28 they had not voted together, but a reliable gentleman from Barcelona who they considered one of their own.
A week ago, faced with the dilemma between the pocket, in other words, a downward taxation, in the style of Isabel Díaz Ayuso in Madrid, for the State as a whole, or avoiding the risk that the popular end up dependent of Vox to form a government, with the consequent political turbulence that this would entail in Catalonia, the majority chose the first option thinking that Sanchismo had already conceded too much to the Podemite left and the pro-independence party.
And they would have done even more, according to many of them, if the councilors of the Feijóo party had not left their candidate in the ditch in Barcelona, ??a maneuver that opens the door to a future PSC-Comuns coalition in the Catalan capital, true anathema to the notables of the economy. Trias also represented, from his point of view, the most pragmatic and pactist sector of Junts, a kind of announcement of the longed-for return of neo-Pujolism.
In the end, many tried to reassure themselves on Sunday while voting, thinking that between the pressures of the Spanish economic powers and the European partners from Brussels, a right-wing government, which seemed certain, would moderate their demands, style Giorgia Meloni, the populist prime minister of Italy; or the PSOE would make way for Feijóo with a second abstention in the investiture and Vox would not enter the Executive. It should be noted, however, that there were also minority sectors of the upper bourgeoisie who chose the socialist ballot. And among them, very notable and relevant characters.
But despite this distance, the most active businessmen were not ignorant of what the ex-president was plotting from his refuge in Waterloo. There was a certain estrangement, but not a rupture or incommunicado. And the proof is that some economic leaders have maintained contacts through regular visits and knew that Puigdemont had in mind for months the possibility of opening a negotiation with the central government.
Last spring, before anyone could imagine that Pedro Sánchez would advance the elections, Puigdemont had already communicated to some representative of the bourgeoisie that he hoped to be decisive in Parliament when the elections took place.
He met in Brussels shortly before the municipal meetings, among others, with the president of Foment, Josep Sánchez Llibre, who also informed the content of this meeting the big Catalan businessmen and some leaders of other political forces
At that time the leader of Junts expected to win a dozen deputies in the elections, a fact that indicates that he considered, with perhaps a certain excess of optimism, that it would be possible to overtake Oriol Junqueras’ ERC rivals.
Puigdemont explained to his economic interlocutors that the pact he was advocating had to include, in addition to the existing government, the rest of the State’s powers, starting with the King and the judiciary. Also the economic world. Amnesty for all those retaliated against, more than 4,000 according to the maximum calculations, was the great condition. He did not mention, in those meetings, the self-determination referendum.
On that predisposition of Puigdemont, the Catalan economic powers base their hope for an agreement that “can contribute to resolving the conflict between Catalonia and the rest of Spain”. And the contacts have already multiplied during the few days that have passed since the votes were counted, especially with Illa and Puigdemont’s surroundings. In all cases, employers have urged politicians to reach an agreement.
From Foment to the Cercle d’Economia, which is chaired by Jaume Guardiola, the entrepreneurs want that, in addition to the more political issues, such as the amnesty, issues that can lead to a boost for the economy whenever improve the climate between Catalonia and the rest of Spain: regional financing and investment in infrastructure, in the first place. Also, the direct management of European Next Generation funds.