While the president of Catalonia, Quim Torra, has been telling the members of his government, the politicians in exile, those in jail, and a great range of other pro-independence political and social leaders about the broad lines of the speech he plans to give on Tuesday in Barcelona, the Spanish government has spoken for the first time about reapplying article 155 of the Constitution - the clause under which Madrid can, and did, impose direct rule over Catalonia. The Catalan Socialists (PSC) have done the same, with their leader, Miquel Iceta, emphasizing that going outside the law - Spanish law, of course - means disaster.
Neither Sánchez nor Iceta are just taking potshots. They know very well what they are aiming at: influencing the speech and softening what they have heard will be its main argument. And since at the moment, there is also dialogue - as well as a lot of whatsapp and a lot of mobile - between the Spanish and Catalan governments at different levels, this concern has also been formally passed on. Along with the warning that no ultimatums should be delivered. The ball, nevertheless, is still in Torra's court. His Barcelona speech will herald the opening of a very tense political term, since, in addition to the upcoming Catalan national day and the commemorations of the key moments of last autumn, we are going to see growing tension that will culminate in the trial of the jailed pro-independence politicians. And, let's remember, there will be a verdict which president Torra has said plainly on several occasions he will not accept, since the Supreme Court trial has been perverted, and the conviction will be clearly unjust.
Torra has become president of Catalonia in a politically exceptional situation and has still not had time to imprint his personal stamp on the country's highest office. He has toured Catalonia as much as any leader, he has ensured that the constant difficulties between the two largest pro-independence parties stay outside his executive, he has established a more than reasonable relationship with his vice-president, Pere Aragonès, he has reiterated that he will not deviate from the mandate given by the October 1st referendum and he has assumed quite naturally that the legitimate president is Carles Puigdemont, but that this does not have to affect every action and step he takes.
Tuesday's address, then, marks the true political launch of the presidency and the new term after many days, more than a hundred, in his post. In a speech, the important thing is to find the right tone and a suitable framework for the independence movement's upcoming actions. So what the Catalan president says will not be trivial. The cocktail that he mixes from much-maligned concepts such as dialogue, referendum, rupture and permanent mobilization will be Torra's stamp on the start of the new political season. And that is the reason for the threats from Sánchez, and the renewed emergence of article 155.