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Those of us who have spent many years covering parliamentary sessions in the chamber in Barcelona's Parc de la Ciutadella since the Catalan Parliament was restored in 1980 have seen almost everything. From the parliamentary inexperience and personal complicity of the main political actors at the start of the autonomous community era to the steamrollers of Pujol's absolute majorities. The arrival of a sharp-witted politician like Vidal-Quadras or the disjointed left-wing tripartite that only came together to defeat Artur Mas. The start of the independence process, simultaneous with the arrival in politics of Albert Rivera, Inés Arrimadas and the Ciudadanos (Cs) label; the autumn of 2017 with the laws of disconnection, the referendum and the proclamation of the independence of Catalonia; the swearing-in of Quim Torra as president of the Generalitat and a personal attack hitherto unknown in Parliament. And finally, a year ago, the entry of the far-right party Vox into the house with 11 MPs and 7.7% of the vote in the elections of February 14th, 2021.

In many ways, Vox has replaced Ciudadanos, occupied its ideological space, and targets the same voters. Because in Catalonia, Cs has never been seen as the liberal party it preached, but as an anti-Catalan and corrosive political group, which moves better when flinging mud than in political action. Vox uses the rostrum to denigrate the independence movement, defend the Castilian language in authoritarian and exclusional ways, try to abolish the Catalan public media and make populist proclamations, many of them reminiscent of a country where things are seen only in black and white. Just as Cs has done over these years in which it has been present in Parliament.

When this Wednesday, from a seat among the Vox ranks, one of the party's MPs was heard calling the president of the Generalitat a "son of a bitch"​, a line was crossed that demonstrates, in addition to its bad manners, the level of tension that the far right is willing to inject into Catalan politics. And it is not that in recent years there has been any lack of tension, to a sometimes unbearable degree. But personal insults, voices that shout out and act with this level of rudeness had been left out of the political clashes. There are many types of parliaments and one that always comes to mind is the House of Commons, because of its tradition and the fiery sessions that take place at Westminster. In Catalonia, the parliamentary sessions are light years from the atmosphere that occurs in the British Parliament and it could be said that, in general, the dialectic tension is lower.

But in any case, the Catalan Parliament, the lectern and the seat occupied by a deputy are not a tavern, nor a football field where insults are the order of the day. It is not a place where you can be called a "son of a bitch" and simply accept such language. In this case, the phrase was used against the president of Catalonia, Pere Aragonès, but it goes for everyone. It is true that the Vox deputy retracted his words and apologized when this was demanded by the speaker of the chamber, Laura Borràs. It has always been said that politics should maintain a minimum level of civility, because in the end it is also an example for the citizenry. Obviously, politics is now a long way from these parameters, which are part of a past that will not return.

Both Vox and Ciudadanos pursue the degradation of the Catalan institutions and are comfortable when they are down in the dirt. The aim must be to isolate them politically, reduce their presence as much as possible and make them extra-parliamentary one day. In the meantime, let them learn that political positions are going to be defended in Parliament and that calling someone a "son of a bitch" will end in your rectification and apology or your expulsion from the chamber.