We are more in love with Catalonia than with a party.” With this phrase, ten years ago, Artur Mas closed the chapter of Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya (CDC), beset by corruption cases that eroded its credibility, to give way to PDeCAT, a new formation with which he intended to relaunch the post-convergent space. Neither the PP nor the PSOE have dared, throughout their history, to shed their acronyms, despite having suffered political and economic corruption firsthand. The heirs of Convergència, on the other hand, gave them up to symbolically break with that past.
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PDeCAT was the successor to CDC, although leadership eventually shifted towards Junts per Catalunya, which faces a turning point ten years later. It is not just about the ruling that the CJEU will announce tomorrow, which will determine the future of Carles Puigdemont and his likely return to Catalonia under what conditions and in what capacity. Junts’ decisions continue to be decisive for the course of Pedro Sánchez’s legislature. The post-convergents — although many of their leaders are uncomfortable with the label — have set out to undermine the parliamentary stability of the Prime Minister, and so far, they are achieving that goal.
Maybe, ten years later, Junts needs a new reinvention
However, this wear-down strategy is not giving Junts electoral gains. The latest polls lower their expectations, as reflected in the latest barometer from the Centre d’Estudis d’Opinió. Meanwhile, Aliança Catalana is beginning to consolidate as a real threat to the post-convergent space and even aspires to overtake it in some municipalities. In Salou, for example, it has already started fishing in Junts’ electoral pool.
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This advance also explains some of the tactical moves of Puigdemont’s formation. In Girona, Gemma Geis has chosen to leave the municipal government to distance herself before the next municipal elections. The goal is to avoid the wear and tear of a government shared with the CUP and ERC, especially in areas such as housing, security, or immigration, costing her at the polls.
In JxCat they are aware that Aliança is fighting the battle on a broader terrain than immigration. In Barcelona, for example, Sílvia Orriols’ formation intends to contest the post-convergent vote with a discourse focused on everyday problems and municipal management. Maybe, ten years later, Junts needs a new reinvention.
