Fighting for Catalonia

In order to fulfil his promise to pass a national budget next year (the first since 2022), Pedro Sánchez is going even further than usual to satisfy Catalan separatists. First, by taking on 17-billion-euro of Catalonia's debt, in an initiative that is proving highly divisive amongst Spain's devolved regions; secondly, by campaigning for Brussels to make Catalan an official EU language; and thirdly, by mandating large Spanish companies to serve customers in Catalan as well as Castilian.

Madrid's feisty PP president Isabel Díaz Ayuso is usually Sánchez's most prominent critic. But this time it was her Andalusian counterpart Juanma Moreno who led the rebellion against the coalition's 83-billion-euro debt transfer scheme (misleadingly referred to by its creators as debt 'forgiveness'). Correctly identifying it as a "trap", he was backed by the PP presidents of eleven other regions, all of whom have promised to reject the offer. Moreno thus thwarted what was surely intended to be the first move in Maria Jesús Montero's regional electoral campaign.

Currently finance minister and first vice president of Spain, Montero has announced her intention to run as Socialist candidate in the next Andalusian elections, due before June 2026. One wonders whether it was a coincidence, then, that the southern region (traditionally a Socialist stronghold before Moreno took power in 2019) was set to be the biggest beneficiary of the debt transfer package, with almost 19 billion up for redistribution. Montero will no doubt focus on Moreno's rejection in her campaign, portraying him as the big baddie who turned down a historically generous offer.

While Spain's devolved regions squabbled over the debt transfer package this week, EU secretary Fernando Sampedro attended a meeting of the bloc's General Affairs Council (GAC). Although the proposal to have Catalan recognised as the EU's 25th official language didn't feature on the agenda, and was rejected by the GAC in May, Sampedro insisted that he would not give up.

The EU already translates some documents into Catalan (albeit at the Spanish government's expense) and citizens are entitled to receive responses to queries in the language, which is spoken by around ten million people worldwide. Why not make it official?

In support of his case, Sampedro can now point to the separatists' most recent concession from the Spanish government. This week, Junts per Catalunya forced Sánchez to make amendments to the proposed Customer Service Bill, according to which companies with more than 250 employees or annual turnover exceeding 50m euros will be required to service clients in both Catalan and Spanish.

All of which made me think of a joke. Apologies if it's not very funny, but it should at least convey my point. What's the difference between Pedro Sánchez and Salvador Illa? One's a crusading secessionist, dedicated to the cause of Catalan independence. The other is the president of Catalonia.