Pedro Sánchez and Alberto Núñez Feijóo will coincide this Friday in Barcelona. The person responsible for this “unintended coincidence”, underlined in Genoa, is the Circle of Economy, the association of Catalan businessmen, which closes its XXXVII Annual Meeting. The trip is loaded with symbolism for both in the midst of a political storm due to the massive espionage of independence leaders and Feijóo, aware of the sudden weakness of the Prime Minister in his relationship with Catalan sovereignty, is determined to take advantage of it. “Right now Sánchez will be worse received than Núñez Feijóo in Catalonia“, they presume from the environment closest to the president of the Popular Party.
Alberto Núñez Feijóo has designed his landing in Genoa to the millimeter and it is no coincidence that his first trip as ‘chief’ of the PP has Barcelona as its destination. The still acting president of the Xunta de Galicia wants to win over the Catalan economic elite and will present his economic plan to them. A menu of fiscal proposals, with the reduction of taxes as a capital measure, which have received the approval of CEPYME and the CEOE, but which were first rejected by the unions and, later, by the Government.
This Friday will be maiden speech of Núñez Feijóo as president of the PP outside of Madrid, and it will be in Catalonia. He will also act as the opening act for Pedro Sánchez, because the Prime Minister will close the Cercle d’Economía conference shortly after. Genoa has high expectations for this Friday’s visit because Feijóo and his team are convinced that the context favors them to reinforce the image of the popular leader in an arid terrain for them electorally. With three seats, the PP is the last political force in the Parliament of Catalonia.
The Socialists, led by Salvador Illa, received the most votes even though they failed to govern and the Government remained in the hands of ERC, a parliamentary partner of the coalition. But in recent weeks the legislature has been complicated for Pedro Sánchez and he will land in Barcelona just 24 hours after the head of the CNI recognized that the president was spied on, with judicial authorization Pere Aragonese. In addition, the official secrets commission served to verify that only 18 of the telephone interventions with Pegasus to more than 60 independence leaders had legal consent.
“The only thing the CNI has done has been to spy on certain Catalan politicians with judicial authorization, upon request from the competent political body. Therefore, we need to know who the competent political body is and if the moment of the espionage had political relevance,” he assured. Thursday Núñez Feijóo at the end of the commission.
In the midst of this scenario, they believe in Genoa that they will be able to capitalize on the anger of the independentistas with the socialist part of the Government and that on this occasion a leader of the PP will be “better” received in Catalonia than the Prime Minister.
Even so, we must not forget that the Popular Party voted against the Catalan groups in Congress entering the secrets commission. “We cannot accept that the parties that fight the unity of the nation participate in the secrets of the state of this nation,” said Feijóo about ERC, Junts and the CUP. The three formations represent the majority of the Catalan electorate.
Resurrect the Catalan PP
The leadership of the PP is aware that the situation of the party in Catalonia is, to say the least, critical. The PP of Pablo Casado and Alejandro Fernández left the party at electoral lows. “We have the obligation to improve our results”, recognizes Feijóo’s environment. Although it will not be this Friday when the machinery of Genoa launches the regional “reset” of the party. “In principle”, Núñez Feijóo will not take advantage of the trip to Barcelona this Friday to meet with the president of the Catalan PP, Alejandro Fernández, they assure Public their collaborators. Feijóo’s agenda only includes the appointment with the businessmen.
But reviving the PP in Catalonia is one of Feijóo’s objectives, who believes that his special “territorial sensitivity” can bring you closer to Catalan society. The truth is that the sensitivity that his team displays consists solely of having been president of the Galician Autonomous Community for 14 years and, based on this experience, granting more autonomy to regional leaders. It is the most used cover letter by a politician who, for example, has limited the use of Galician in schools.
The new direction of Genoa will have to make decisions to get the PP out of the UCI in Catalonia – with three deputies relegated to the mixed group of the Parliament. The congress of the popular Catalans is scheduled to be held in the autumn and there it will be decided if Fernández continues to lead the party, despite the dismal electoral results, or if Feijóo regenerates the first row of the Catalan Popular Party.
For now, Núñez Feijóo will set foot in Barcelona to defend what has been his mantra in recent weeks: lower taxes.
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