The Spanish government's cabinet meeting in Barcelona on Friday has left behind a huge hangover in political and media terms, not in the place where the meeting was held, but in Madrid. In Catalonia, beyond the independence movement's demonstrations, and the complaints from retail and restaurant sectors at a critical time for their revenues, the meeting leaves a bittersweet aftertaste for unionism: no political proposal was made and an opportunity missed. In the Spanish capital, though, where there isn't even a truce for Christmas, the focus is on the image of Sánchez and Torra together and the normalization that was signified by having a meeting between members of the two governments, even if it was in miniature format. Eyebrows were also raised by the joint statement, something unusual except with respect to encounters between governments of different countries.
But it is clear which point has, in my opinion, the weightiest political implications: the extraordinary police deployment that had to be executed in Barcelona so that the cabinet meeting could be held without any surprises. Up to 9,000 members of police forces had to be mobilized. A world of difference from the Spanish government meeting that took place in Seville two months ago. It is this that should be the debate in Spain at present: is it possible to keep saying no indefinitely to all the demands of the majority of Catalan society and deny an independence referendum to a territory that you cannot even visit without an exceptional police deployment? Can you pretend not to hear, even when, as head of state or prime minister, you are unable to travel normally to Catalonia? You can take a resolution of the Catalan Parliament proposing the abolition of the monarchy and send it to the Constitutional Court, but it is a great act of political myopia to think that because the Court says you are right, the problem has disappeared.
This is the problem. You can deny reality, but Catalonia has already left. It is true that it has not achieved independence as its government and parliament wanted. But the Spanish state has only been able to maintain its territorial integrity through the use of violence. This is not enough in the 21st century, although for now it provides a false sense of tranquility. And it is the great lesson, the last one, from last Friday, the 21st December. Exactly a year after the Catalan elections which the independence movement won once again.
It is only the division among the independence movement and its lack of leadership that conceals the weakness of the state. But the current transitional state will not continue forever.