The odd couple

On Wednesday, the Catalan parliament approved a law that will allow the Convergence and Union (CiU) government to boost its income by introducing a euro charge for medical prescriptions as well as a tourist tax, among other measures. As with all decisive votes, the CiU managed to get the votes it needed for the law thanks to the support of the Popular Party. Catalonia is becoming a testing ground for social cutbacks, which — despite the criticism of those who believe them to be dangerous for the country’s welfare state — seem destined to be tried out in the rest of Spain in one form or another.

This new display of harmony between the two parties is in stark contrast to the irresponsible mud-slinging that usually goes on between media allied to the CiU in Catalonia and the PP in the rest of Spain when it comes to matters of regional nationalism, the result of which is to fan the flames of discord. Both parties get good political results from their agreements over the economic model and their disagreements over issues of identity.

The PP’s opposition to the Catalan Estatut — which sought to give more powers to the region’s government — has not impeded the CiU from governing in collaboration with the party. The party’s flirting with fiscal disobedience and its nationalism do not stop the PP from happily accepting its support — even when it doesn’t need it — when it comes to approving its economic and social agenda. In Catalonia, the PP supports the CiU’s cutbacks and reforms — such as a return to government control of the radio and regional public TV stations — while CiU returns the favor in the Spanish parliament with labor reforms and tax rises, issues that both parties had refused to be drawn on during the electoral campaigns. This relationship took on indecent overtones this week when the PP government pardoned two CiU members who had been convicted in a corruption case.

Meanwhile, both of the parties are serving to widen the gulf between the symbols of Catalan and Spanish identity, with discourse in which separatists and separators feel very comfortable and is nothing more than a strategy so that each party can aim to maximize the votes they garner from their pools of prospective voters.

Shifting loyalties

This is an irresponsible attitude, because it is toying with something very sensitive and uncontrollable: feelings. The fact that Jordi Pujol has got involved in this debate is a bad sign. There has been a shift from a relationship of institutional loyalty — to which Pujol contributed during his 23 years as regional leader — to a relationship of confrontation over identity in which the institutions are converted into mere instruments of partisan interests.

The result is that the incomprehension is growing on both sides of the River Ebro. Artur Mas pushes for independence, and the more that he pushes, the more he wins over Catalonia. But at the same time, anti-Catalan sentiment grows in the rest of Spain. The PP pushes for a renewed centralization of powers, and the more it pushes, the more anti-Spanish sentiment grows in Catalonia.