The head of Junts’ list for the general elections, Miriam Nogueras, has predicted that PP and Vox will once again prevent the use of Catalan in Congress if they form a government after November 29, an assertion from which the PP candidate for Barcelona, Xavier García Albiol, has distanced himself, who has replied: "Nobody will prohibit anything for you".
The clash took place in the final stretch of the debate held this Monday between the candidates for Barcelona in the general elections, organized by Pimec, to which ERC’s top candidate, Gabriel Rufián, did not attend, citing scheduling problems.
During a round of cross-questions, Nogueras addressed the Vox candidate, Juanjo Aizcorbe, to ask him whether, if they were to govern together with the PP, they would again prevent it from being possible to use Catalan in Congress.
"I understand that you have to speak in the common language so that we can all understand each other," Aizcorbe replied, a response that Nogueras interpreted as confirmation of that possible veto.
Vox’s representative added that he uses Catalan in the private sphere and in Catalunya, and insisted: "You will speak in the language you speak with the rest of the groups in Congress".
"Nobody will prohibit anything for you," Albiol reiterated immediately afterwards, words that prompted an immediate retort from the socialist Jordi Hereu and from the Comuns-Front Ampli candidate, Ernest Urtasun, both ministers of the Government of Pedro Sánchez.
Hereu described as "falsehood" the claim that there will be no prohibitions, while Urtasun reminded Albiol that PP’s deputy in Congress, Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo, defended suppressing the simultaneous translation earpiece into Spanish.
After the exchange, Albiol has argued that in the Senate it is possible to intervene in Catalan, a point that Nogueras has rejected, as has Urtasun, who added: "Because you don’t want to".
"In the Senate you can’t speak in Catalan, only in motions," Nogueras insisted, without convincing the popular leader, who said that during his three years in the Upper House he was able to express himself in that language.
Aizcorbe tried to wrap up the discussion with an ironic remark: "Soon you will be able to speak in Catalan, Spanish, English and in Arabic".
Debate on the financing of Catalunya
In the economic bloc, Hereu has questioned the also mayor of Badalona (Barcelona) for his rejection of the FLA debt forgiveness and the new funding model which, as he has pointed out, would provide an additional 4,700 million euros to Catalonia. The Popular Party leader has responded that they are calling for better funding for the community, but with a different approach.
"Catalonia needs better funding but one agreed with all the communities. Funding cannot be done outside of the rest because in the end this ends up generating territorial tensions," Albiol has warned, who has shown himself convinced that, if the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, governs, a pact on this matter will be reached.
Hereu, for his part, has defended the advantages of the new system, emphasizing that it would mean more resources for autonomies governed by the PP such as Andalusia and the Valencian Community, and he has considered that blocking it means putting party calculations ahead of the interests of citizens.