The day began with another magician’s flourish from Carles Puigdemont and ended with Salvador Illa being chosen as the president of the Generalitat. Magic has a long tradition in Catalonia, with names like the Magician Pop who has even taken this craft to Broadway. Politics has seen its value decline. After more than a decade, its prestige has fallen further. Aware of this weariness, Puigdemont and his followers dubbed their approach magical independence. Built on illusions and dramatic stunts, a declaration of independence lasted just 48 seconds. Brief, so the audience did not spot the trick. On Thursday Puigdemont pulled off one of his last tricks and captured attention. He did so with the complicity of Mossos d’Esquadra who acted like those trusted assistants a circus needs for everything to run smoothly. Yet, he did not achieve his goal, delaying the investiture session at most. The day closed with the hardest news for him: the election of a socialist as president, supported by the historical Catalan independence bloc.
No one imagines Salvador Illa performing even the simplest magic trick. Puigdemont wakes each day with a new idea, while Illa goes to bed revisiting the past month to improve in the next. It is a pity Puigdemont was not in the hemicycle. The judges have deprived the parliament of a spectacle that could have highlighted politics. The champion of Realism versus the Great Magician of the last decade. A man who bores with talks of familiar problems, contrasted with one who fascinates because no one knows his next move, not even his closest allies. If there is a shadowy figure, Gonzalo Boye, a character not entirely foreign to the circus world, looms as a noted antagonist. Gentlemen, a pity. If this were a suspense novel, the ending would reveal that both extremes reached toward each other to frustrate a wonderful opportunity.
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Consequently, for Puigdemont the show continues, and for Illa the presidency of the Generalitat of Catalonia remains the objective. One a magician for a day, the other a tenant of the Palau. For how long is unknown, since he himself has admitted that the support received is only for investiture and amounts to just one more vote than the rest. Illa had to overcome a level of complexity that could not be the result of a lucky break. It is not. There will be time to analyze his program and the agreements with Esquerra Republicana and the Comuns. What matters today is the music, not the lyrics. From Tarradellas, one of his mentors, to the praise for Pere Aragonès that Illa secured without a single laugh escaping anyone. This is the advantage of credibility and steady work, much like the marathons he favors, where Lluïsa Moret (PSC), Marta Rovira (ERC), and Jéssica Albiach (Comuns) stood out. Three women. Coincidence perhaps?
The plenary session elected Salvador Illa as president of the Generalitat to focus on what really matters: the issues facing Catalan society, starting with the shameful 18 percent of citizens living in poverty. Catalonia lags in education, environmental management, infrastructure, and the efficiency of its administration. The government faces daunting challenges as it governs in a minority and depends on Madrid, with a strong and arid opposition. The potential addition of Junts per Catalunya’s seven diputados depends on how the standoff between Puigdemont and the Supreme Court ends. Yet, let us return to the music. If the investiture session achieved anything, it strengthened short-term pacts between the PSC, ERC, and the Comuns. This is politics, when it moves away from illusion and takes root in real problems. That should contribute to the stability and seriousness many Catalans long for.