The president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, has reproached Junts for taking a middle position ahead of the upcoming general elections, while, as he has emphasized, Catalunya does not occupy that place: “Catalonia will be decisive; the ones who are in the middle, please step aside.”
At a rally held this Saturday in Tarragona alongside the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, Illa defended that Catalonia “must speak very decisively. The strength of a country. The strength of the people against the strength of big money.”
“And some say: ‘No, I’m in the middle.’ In the middle! Junts per Catalunya!” Illa proclaimed from the stage.
He has argued that “it’s not about being neutral; it’s about being afraid to decide. If you can’t decide, let the citizens decide,” calling for a clear stance at the ballot box.
Along the same lines, he has reiterated: “Junts per Catalunya: ‘I’m in the middle.’ In the middle of what? Well if you’re in the middle, step aside.”
He has questioned how it is possible to position oneself in the middle between “some authoritarians” who aspire to reach power and the current Government, which he has said defends the Mediterranean Corridor, protects the historical heritage of Tarragona, backs the gigafactory in Tarragona, promotes the Tarragona petrochemical industrial park, and pursues a responsible tourism model.
He has warned that those who want to govern are the same ones who “have protested against Catalonia, who say that Catalan, Basque, and Galician are provincial languages,” and that, as he has stated, they intend to expel these languages from Parliament.
He also warned that they are political forces that “cut rights constantly. How can one be in the middle of this? Catalunya is not in the middle. Catalonia is by the side of progress,” aligned with democratic institutions, social advancement, and treating housing, pensions, and healthcare as rights and not as businesses, he emphasized.
Feijóo president: “You won’t be it”
Illa predicts that the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, will not manage to impose himself in the elections, precisely because the popular party leader argues that “you cannot be President of Spain if you don’t understand Catalonia.”
“That’s why you won’t be it. Never. It’s the only truth,” the first secretary of the PSC, who also spoke, mocked.
He has underlined that "not all of us understand in the same way what patriotism is: them, the patriotism of the flags, the authoritarians, the patriotism of the flags; us, the patriotism of public services".
For this reason, he has defended that pensions, healthcare, and housing "are not a business", and he has appealed to the force of the vote over algorithms to stop the arrival of authoritarianism in power.
"They have instrumentalized the Senate"
Illa has warned that in the constituencies of Tarragona and Girona there is "a single ballot" for the PP and Vox in the Senate: that of Vox, he has assured.
"They have instrumentalized the Senate against the Government. And they want to go further now. That is why the PP gives up. And it surrenders: zero kilometer of surrender", he has said about the meaning of the vote in the Upper House in Tarragona.
He has also referred to the results of the 'midterms' in the United States to point out that "authoritarianism has not worked", with policies far from the needs of citizens, which is why the electorate has punished Donald Trump at the ballot box and has again backed Lula da Silva in Brazil, he has explained.
He has called for a campaign focused on defending the right to vote of all people with a passport, without insults, without casting doubt on postal voting, and based on direct contact with citizens in order to achieve Sánchez's re-election: "Pedro, we are going to win".
Illa thanked the attendance at the event of the former minister and executive vice-president of the European Commission for a Clean, Just and Competitive Transition, Teresa Ribera.
Jordi Hereu: "They are coming for us"
The Minister of Industry, Jordi Hereu, has assured that "the movement of hope has begun to walk" and it prevails over hate and over looking to the past of other political formations, insisting that hope ends up defeating hate.
"They are going for us, they are going for our rights", he has warned in reference to PP and Vox, and he has asked the voters of Tarragona to choose between the head of the PSC list, Ione Montalvo, or a candidate whom he has described as a neonazi, implicitly alluding to Vox's aspirant for Tarragona, Jordi de la Fuente.
He has described Pedro Sánchez as a noble person and has predicted that he will have "the great support of Catalonia", for his commitment to living together in peace in Catalonia and for his line of action in international politics.
"It takes a lot of courage to face the warlords", he said, adding that Sánchez has stood his ground in front of the President of the United States and has demanded peace from Israel's prime minister.
Hereu also emphasized that Illa is steering in Catalonia a "virtuous cycle", he praised the management of the mayor of Tarragona, Rubén Viñuales, and he considered it an honor to share a ticket with number 1 of the PSC for Tarragona, Ione Montalvo.