It's as if the Spanish state were unconnected to everything that has happened over these years in Catalonia. This quote from the minister of international action, institutional relations and transparency, Ernest Maragall, after an almost four-hour-long meeting in Barcelona of the bilateral Spain-Catalonia commission between members of the Spanish and Catalan governments, summarises, surely, what the attitude of the Spanish executives has been since 2010 which saw the degrading sentence on Catalonia's Statute of Autonomy and the start of the unfinished Catalan independence process.
Eight years during which, as minister Maragall says, the Spanish state has held basically two attitudes: first, speaking of an independence fad to deny the reality and avoid sitting down to negotiate. And, then, using repression and police and legal force due to the calling of the 1st October referendum and the political proclamation of independence. In fact, the badly named bilateral commission is everything but: sure, two administrations sit down at the negotiating table, but only one makes the decisions. The other, the Catalan, only makes suggestions.
Now, through a motion of no-confidence supported by pro-independence parties, Pedro Sánchez has reached the Moncloa government palace and his party wants to talk with the Catalan government about the ordinary management of its autonomy, but they're bringing up the topics of the prisoners, the exiles and a referendum. And, then, the same thing as ever happens: it depends on the justice system, the law doesn't allow it, it goes against the Constitution, the public prosecution service is autonomous... and so on with all the examples wanted.
Everything but engaging in politics and addressing the conflict with a broad outlook. The Catalan government of Quim Torra and Pere Aragonès features many voices and different deep strategies. But I don't know to what extent the Spanish government is aware that the current Spanish legislature will go up in smoke if there's not a brave and daring gesture which, at the present time, is nowhere to be seen.