The Parliament of Catalonia is trying to construct a cordon sanitaire to isolate Vox, a very laudable initiative as a way of preventing the far right from obtaining maximum amplification in the legislature that is to open by mid-March and stopping its populist, sexist and xenophobic discourse from reaching vote levels we have seen in other western countries. Impeding the party from gaining representation on the Bureau of Parliament would be a first step, but not the only one, and nor the most important. Because, in the end, there are many parties that will recur to the support of Vox when it comes to promoting political initiatives, and even the PSC's candidate for the Catalan presidency in the last elections, Salvador Illa, fell short of giving a forceful guarantee that in no case would he reach the presidency of the Generalitat of Catalonia through the votes of Vox. What’s more, the PSC has been clear: they will only respect the cordon sanitaire against Vox “whenever it is possible”.
This positioning of the Catalan Socialists must be a bucket of cold water for their government partners in Madrid, the Comuns, who would also be their hypothetical allies in Catalonia if the numbers had come out. It is unlikely to be any surprise to the other three leaders of the anti-Vox initiative - ERC, Junts and the CUP - as the Socialists have shown ample evidence that this was an issue they preferred to avoid. Not very long ago, Pedro Sánchez only managed to get his decree on the use of the European funds through the Congress of Deputies thanks to the votes of the far right. There was no disgust about the 52 deputies of Vox either from the PSOE or from Podemos. Nor from Bildu, who, although it was a reluctant guest at the fiesta and very tangential in the parliamentary debate, nevertheless supported the Spanish government. And a few hours later, Pedro Sánchez, in one of those phrases which will be immortalized in the media archives, even praised the "sense of state" of the MPs in Santiago Abascal far-right party, while he reproached Pablo Casado and the PP for voting no. In summary, fewer proclamations and many more actions are needed.
And the case of the European funds is neither the only instance nor the most noxious. In the persecution of the Catalan political prisoners and exiles, Vox has not been isolated, and on the contrary, it is the PSOE which has aligned itself with the far right, here and in the European Parliament. The same has happened when it comes to preventing a parliamentary commission of inquiry on the corruption of the Spanish monarchy. Let's face it: Vox is very useful to some people as an excuse or an alibi and they get a lot out of the photo opportunity. But politics is so much more than appearing in photos that win applause and make you look very left-wing. Let's insist that the politicians and parties impose a real cordon sanitaire that must, in fact, consist of a democratic commitment: no-one should go forward with any political initiative in Parliament at all that has the support of Vox, if it is not by a large enough majority that it would win anyway without their votes.
Anything that does not walk in this direction will neither be credible, nor will it serve any purpose except to have an almighty row. Something that is very typical of politicians, but ends up contributing to an attitude of which the public is become increasingly tired.