With his holidays over —we have heard little to nothing from the Spanish prime minister since before Christmas— Pedro Sánchez visited the SER radio station to announce he had returned to work, although it was clear that there has been no progress in any issue. The one that most interests us Catalans, the solution to the political conflict present ever since the holding of the October 1st, 2017 referendum, was tackled with evident reluctance and some contempt towards the Catalan government. He pointed out that he was working on something more urgent, the pandemic, that throughout the year there will be more than one meeting between the two governments, and that he had been able to verify that the pro-independence supporters were continuing "with their highest demands" —amnesty, referendum and self-determination— and that there would be no agreement and no progress here.
In other words, there will be a meeting, and we will see what they can talk about, because they will have to come up with something in order to continue stalling. The Catalan government’s defence of the issues raised is commendable, but there will be no agreement and no progress, not now nor in the future. In the meantime, Sánchez will hide the table as much as he could and shelve the issues for which it was created. This year begins with the Spanish government's cards face up, and no one will be fooled in the future. Pedro Sánchez responded tiredly when reminded of what is happening at the table, and reiterated that there must be greater dialogue between Catalans, that it is not enough for the pro-independence supporters to reach an agreement.
Those who read me in this newspaper know of my total scepticism about the dialogue table from the start. Not because I believe that dialogue is not good, and negotiation is useless to advance in the solution of the conflict, that is not the case. My lack of interest —and, in this, I do agree with Sánchez— my weariness, is basically due to three reasons. The first: one only needs to take a walk around Madrid to see that the dialogue table is nothing more than a crude attempt to, as they say colloquially, beat about the bush . There is no will whatsoever in the PSOE to go down any consensual path, much less on the part of the so-called deep state, which rules much more than it should democratically. Secondly, a certain knowledge of the Spanish state, its mechanisms, including those of the media, when it comes to moving in circles without advancing a millimetre from its initial position. One of the most common mistakes made in Catalonia is to think that there is a minimally significant critical mass outside Catalonia that really wants to change the fundamentals of things. This is simply untrue.
Thirdly, and very importantly, the mistake of trusting Pedro Sánchez. The Spanish prime minister is currently part of the problem, not part of the solution. For him to hypothetically become part of the solution, a situation similar to that of the censure motion against Mariano Rajoy, in which Sánchez offered everything in exchange for reaching the Moncloa, would have to arise. The strategy was bad because, among other things, there were many who thought more about liquidating Rajoy than anything else, and the advantageous position was lost. And Sánchez, as elusive as any of his predecessors, abandoned any commitments he had made and the opportunity, if there ever was one, passed.
Is it possible to return to the time of the motion of censure? Not without new Spanish elections in which the PSOE, weakened, would be even more hostage to the pro-independence movement once again. But that is too much to hope for and, moreover, there is still a long way to go. For this reason, Sánchez is now going to do nothing more than hide the table, take some photos and little else.