A New Day in Spain?

By Henry Srebrnik. [Saint John, NB] Telegraph-Journal

Has a new day arrived in Spain? Both the national and the Catalan governments have new leaders.

Pedro Sanchez was sworn in on June 2 in Madrid as Spain’s new prime minister following the fall of Mariano Rajoy over a corruption scandal involving his conservative People’s Party (PP). A court found the party guilty of operating a slush fund.

Sanchez’s Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE), which led the parliamentary revolt, will now form a shaky government.

Rajoy was one of the longest-serving leaders in Europe. He got his first ministerial post in 1996 and was elected as prime minister on his third attempt, in 2011.

The Socialists hold just under a quarter of the seats in parliament, so Sanchez’s government will rely on support from the far-left We Can (Podemos) party and nationalists from Catalonia and the Basque region. So he may not last long.

One of the main challenges for Sanchez will be Catalonian secessionism. Rajoy had taken a hard line on the issue, jailing Catalan separatists and refusing to acknowledge the results of last October’s referendum on independence, won overwhelmingly by Catalans seeking sovereignty.

The Catalan parliament, under its president, Carles Puigdemont of the Catalan European Democratic Party (PDeCAT), had declared independence, in contravention of Spain’s constitution. Angered, Madrid imposed direct rule and called a snap regional election in Catalonia in December.

But three Catalan separatist parties formed an electoral alliance, Together for Catalonia (‎JuntsxCat), and took 70 seats in the 135-seat parliament. 

The PDeCAT won 34 seats, the Republican Left of Catalonia-Catalonia Yes (ERC-CatSi) gained 32, and the far-left, anti-capitalist Popular Unity Candidacy-Constituent Call (CUP-CC) took four.

So, after months of direct rule from Madrid, a new separatist administration led by Quim Torra, formally an independent, also took office on June 2, in the Catalan capital, Barcelona. 

Sanchez had said that one of the priorities of his government would be “rebuilding bridges” that could “start a dialogue between the Spanish government and the new government in Catalonia.”

But will Sanchez and Torra get off to a good start? The new Spanish prime minister recently called Torra a “racist” over remarks he had made about Spaniards. He also described Torra as “the Spanish Le Pen.”

Torra is a close ally of Puigdemont who, along with four other Catalan politicians, fled Spain last year; they remain in self-imposed exile following Madrid’s decision to arrest them for “rebellion.” 

Two of Puigdemont’s ex-ministers, Joaquim Forn of the PDeCATand Oriol Junqeras of the ERC-CatSi, remain in prison.

Torra declared that his government “accepts the charge to continue forward with the mandate to form an independent state.”

The Madrid government has been hiding behind the country’s constitution to thwart the clear political will of Catalans. The Catalan question is not just a legal matter but one that involves the issue of self-determination, and requires a political solution.