From riots to a thaw: how Catalonia shaped the past four years in Spanish politics

Spanish citizens will again choose their MPs in an election that will be held on July 23, for the first time in the middle of summer – that includes over 5 million Catalans, who will be eligible to cast their ballot.

The newly elected representatives in Congress are supposed to choose a new prime minister for Spain.

Yet, this is not always that straightforward – MPs were unable to form any majority after the April 2019 election, and seven months later another vote was held.

Even since November 10, 2019, nothing has been straightforward in Spain – Catalan News brings you a summary of this past term, by imagining how a conversation on the subject between two friends (with a good memory for dates!) in a bar in Catalonia might sound.

An election, again? Was the term not due to finish in November? Did we not just vote a month ago or so?

Yes, we voted in the local elections last month in order to elect our mayors. And basically, since the results the Socialists got overall in Spain on May 28 were not great, to put it mildly, prime minister Pedro Sánchez called a snap election the day after – his term was due to end in late autumn, but I guess he thought his party would continue losing support, so better to hold an election before it is too late.

Not even four years and it felt like loads more!

Well, yes, no surprise, taking into account that in November 2019 we did not know what Covid meant, we were in the middle of riots in Catalonia for the independence referendum trial verdict, Spain had never had a coalition government since democracy was restored in the 1970s, and there had not been a war so close to the EU since the 1990s!

Oh yeah, the riots – they feel far away, now.

Yes, but the day after the Spanish election was one of their peaks! Hundreds of people blocked Catalonia's main highway at the French border for two days to show their outrage at nine political leaders being convicted to a decade in jail for holding an independence referendum. A month later, there was another huge protest at Camp Nou in an FC Barcelona against Real Madrid game. 

But it all died down soon afterwards, right?

Yes – the protest leaders were an anonymous group called Tsunami Democràtic, and their motto was 'Spain, sit and talk'. And after some back and forth, that happened. In early February 2020, Pedro Sánchez and the then Catalan president, Quim Torra, met in Barcelona to tackle the independence issue – and a few weeks later, their cabinets held a bilateral meeting in Madrid. Their main agreement was to meet once a month, clearly underestimating Covid-19 just two weeks before the madness began. There were no more meetings or progress for 19 months.

The talks in early 2020 were the outcome of a deal between the Socialists and left-wing pro-independence Esquerra, if I remember correctly.

That's right. The Socialists struck a deal with the anti-austerity Unidas Podemos party to form the first coalition government in congress since the 1930s. But what enabled Pedro Sánchez to be sworn in as PM again were abstentions from Esquerra and the Basque pro-independence party EH Bildu. The Catalan party agreed to abstain in exchange for launching the talks. And actually, Esquerra has backed the Socialists when they most badly needed it throughout the term, making it easier for them to govern in exchange for continuing talks.

And then the pandemic came.

Hell yes… I still remember Sánchez enforcing a state of alarm on March 14, 2020 which lasted three months: calling a lockdown, taking over all key services in Catalonia, closing shops, schools, restaurants, museums and other cultural venues… The state of alarm lasted three months.

Insane! I remember the daily press conference the Spanish government did to provide the number of deaths and people in hospital…

Yes – featuring the director of Spain's Alert Coordination and Health Emergencies Center, Fernando Simón, and even a representative from the Spanish army! Also present was the then health minister, Salvador Illa, now the Socialists' leader in Catalonia.

And sometimes Sánchez himself talked to the media, such as on March 30, when he ordered all workers to stay home except for those providing essential services until April 9.

Or when, on April 28, he explained the four-phase plan to ease lockdown measures, aiming for a "new normality" by June.

Which was wishful thinking because in July a new Covid wave surged, and then in October the Catalan government set a curfew, and measures were reintroduced in early 2021, and even in early 2022 with Omicron…

Mad times, yes. There is kind of a consensus that the vaccine rollout went well in both Catalonia and across Spain, but it is also widely known that the benefit payments for temporary layoffs due to the pandemic were chaotic – some people did not get the money on time, some got more, or less, than what they should have… And the Catalan government had some clashes with Madrid over Spain taking control of important services at the beginning. 

Yet later it seemed that regional governments were more empowered, more in charge.

Yes, but in parallel, Sánchez's cabinet also faced issues with the opposition, especially when he had to find support to set a new state of alarm, which lasted between October 2020 and May 2021. He managed to pass it, but once it was all over, the Constitutional Court said the measure had gone beyond the legal framework. The People's Party and far-right Vox were among the most outspoken against some key measures.

The pandemic was a big blow to the economy, which plummeted much more than in other countries, partly because of the sudden halt to tourism. But well, it all steadily calmed down, more or less, and in mid-2021 we were back to the usual business: the Catalonia – Spain issue!

Indeed! Shortly after the new Catalan government was formed under Pere Aragonès' presidency, Pedro Sánchez announced pardons for the nine jailed independence leaders in June 2021. But just partial pardons: enough to leave jail, but also to prevent them from running in an election for a decade, and conditional on not reoffending. While all leaders were freed, neither hardline unionists nor the independence movement were happy with the decision.

Anyway, that was a clear sign of a thaw between the Spanish and Catalan administrations and a symbol of a new, less heated era.

Agreed. While the independence bloc retained a majority in the Catalan parliament in the latest election, no riots or major demonstrations that match 2017 have been seen. And the Catalan executive has not made any serious attempt to hold another referendum not authorized by Madrid.

In fact, the Aragonès and Sánchez cabinets resumed the talks after the worst of Covid had passed.

Yes, they have held two meetings: one in Barcelona on September 15, 2021, and one in Madrid on July 27, 2022. So far Catalonia has not achieved either an agreed referendum on independence or an amnesty for those involved in independence-related legal proceedings. Not setting deadlines for talks has been one of the outcomes, as well as protecting the Catalan language. In fact, the Socialists have not made steps to reduce the amount of Catalan in schools despite a judicial ruling that enabled it to do so. But the biggest deal struck has been 'dejudicializing' the political conflict – that is, easing the legal procedures related to independence.

And here's where the penal code reform comes, right? 

Yes, on January 12, this year, changes came into effect, which included scrapping the crime of sedition – the one for which all nine independence leaders were jailed. This, together with some tweaks to the misuse of funds crime, forced the Supreme Court to lift the bans from public office for five of the individuals – also, prison charges were dropped for two of the politicians still exiled, but not for the rest. Sánchez's office has always been in favor of extraditing former Catalan president Puigdemont and trying him in Spain – right-wing opposition wants to see him in jail.

Aha. There is a thaw, but what do you say about 'Catalangate'?

It's true that in April 2022, an investigation revealed that 65 figures linked to the independence movement had been spied on, probably by Spain, using Pegasus software. Sánchez sacked his head of intelligence for that affair, but a lot of questions about it remain up in the air and relations between administrations soured for a while.

And what about the Socialists' relationship with their junior partner, Unidas Podemos? Has it worked? 

It has probably worked better than expected. There have not been major crises, and the shared cabinet has remained quite strong throughout, including after Podemos' leader, Pablo Iglesias, quit politics in May 2021. There have been just a few major issues, the biggest one being the sexual consent law. Brought forward by Podemos, it had an undesired effect: the reduction of sentences for many offenders. The Socialists then decided to amend it, but found no consensus with their coalition partners, and instead gained support from the main opposition force, the People's Party – which actually saw their leader step down in April 2022!

Just one more challenge this term for the outgoing government: the war in Ukraine, for the past year and a half or so.

You are right. Inflation skyrocketed to over 10%, electricity bills increased sharply, as did fuel prices, and the fall in unemployment stopped – the economy and a lot of people suffered as a result, and some of the measures Sánchez put forward included free commuter trains and general discounts for public transport and fuel, as well as VAT reductions on basic goods and electricity.

We're forgetting one thing, the Spanish monarchy!

Yes, after rumors and revelations of obscure deals including a $100 million gift from Saudi Arabia, the former Spanish king, Juan Carlos, decided to go into exile in August 2020 to Abu Dhabi – this, after his son and the current monarch, Felipe, rejected his father's inheritance on March 15, 2020, in the middle of the Covid chaos. This all kind of went unnoticed… While the Madrid government was very outspoken against Juan Carlos, they fully backed Felipe, ruling out any republican debate.

Wow… Right, these four years have been quite a ride. Time to decide who to vote for… Oh wait, elections are on July 23, I am on holidays and have to ask for a mail-in vote