Someone who knows new Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez well recently commented to me that the main task Josep Borrell has, as minister of foreign affairs, is to recover the initiative in the battle Spain has lost in international public opinion when it comes to the case of Catalonia. It remains paradoxical that the front man of a conflict which the Spanish government has aimed since 2012 to keep exclusively domestic has invariably been the minister of foreign affairs. This started with José Manuel García-Margallo, in the almost five years he spent with the portfolio. Those famous statements, pronounced without any embarrassment, that it would take years to pay off the favours and promises acquired from various states to support Spain in the Catalan issue, come from his time as minister (2011-2016). He was followed by Alfonso Dastis, the silencioso (the silent), a high-ranking official who is not known to have ever had any idea, either good or bad.
And, into this, Borrell arrives. The former minister1 knows how to make headlines... and cause fires. He's a pro at the political row and, of his 71 years, more than ten have been spent withdrawing from the political front line. In fact, only his much discussed failures with Abengoa and the European University Institute in Florence and boredom led him to play an active role against the independence movement. First financially and later lifting himself up as one of Societat Civil Catalana's star orators. And that's what he was up to when Pedro Sánchez's offer arrived. When he was named, less than ten days ago, we commented that Borrell was going to offer days of glory to the lovers of the fracture and division in Catalonia, in which he has inherited a certain component from Ciudadanos.
His statement that Catalonia is on the verge of civil confrontation is a lie and irresponsible. A minister of foreign affairs isn't a minister of propaganda. His public threats that Catalonia has to be disinfected, made at an election rally, and his jokes about father Junqueras have to be left behind. For PSC to burst out like a whirlwind to defend him has done nothing other than place Pedro Sánchez's brand new executive facing its blunt reality: there's going to be no specific policy for Catalonia, nor a bilateral relationship. Because what's really cool and gets votes remains a policy against Catalonia. The race of everyone wanting to be like Ciudadanos will most likely suffocate that party, but will also prevent them sitting down to negotiate and do politics.
Translator's note: Borrell was previously minister for public works (1991-96).