Read in Catalan

Whilst in Washington the new director of the International Monetary Fund, the Bulgarian Kristalina Georgieva, was warning of an economic deceleration this year in almost 90% of the world and that growth will be at its lowest level since the start of the decade; whilst in Paris the OECD was detecting signs of fatigue in the Spanish economy, which is nothing other than to say euphemistically that Spain isn't ready for what's coming since its debt is now higher than its GDP, the pensions system is broken, tourism and construction remain the only motors of the economy and unemployment is about to start increasing dangerously... the acting prime minister is continuing to increase his promises around the territory.

This Tuesday, Sánchez, unrelated to anything, at an election event in Jaén with food included, has promised to reduce the number of working days needed to claim the subsidy previously known as PER1. The old PSOE recipe in Andalusia which gives such good results... if the people don't stay at home. It was announced by his irreconcilable adversary Susana Díaz (campaigns are like that) and the beneficiaries are some 57,000 Andalusians and a few thousand Extremadurans. The evening before, the promise had been to raise pensions in December, even if it's still an acting government, in line with the Consumer price index.

We'll have to see what promise he's got for this Wednesday as he visits Catalonia, where he'll take part in an event in l'Hospitalet de Llobregat, the fiefdom of the powerful Núria Marín, currently untouchable by anyone inside or out of the PSC, and who is currently keeping discretely (and intelligently) in the background. Perhaps funding for autonomous communities? Just in case, let's recall that it was meant to have been passed in 2015 but is still there. Or perhaps Rodalies local trains, which were to get part of a windfall of millions Catalonia was going to receive and which never arrived? Neither with Rajoy nor with Sánchez. In part, it would be enough for him to commit to meeting the investment in infrastructure set out in the budgets and that there's no repeat of last year's disgrace, when 66% of such budgeted plans were carried out in Catalonia, compared with 114% in Madrid. We learnt that in July and nobody was scandalised in the Spanish capital.

Nor does it seem likely that Sánchez will talk about an amnesty for the political prisoners should they be found guilty, a minimal demand not just from the independence movement, but also from En Comú. There are not many other promises left as they're either very minor or have been spent in previous stages. So, he'll come to talk about social harmony and the law, two magic formulas which are a recent classic, along with the one that the independence movement has to condemn violence as if it ever didn't. But the candidate will have to do something more if he wants to rise in the polls and get out of the mess he could have gotten himself into by calling a purely tactical and unnecessary general election. This is always part of playing election roulette. Sometimes you might get burnt.

 

Translator's note:
1. PER, now called PFEA (Plan for the Promotion of Agricultural Employment), is a scheme whereby farms who give work to unemployed temporary workers in the sector for a certain number of days a year then get access to additional government subsidies.