Out came Ernest Maragall and, from the platform conferred on him as speaker of the Mesa d'Edat temporary governing body (as the 75-year-old senior deputy) during the constitution of the new Parliament, gave a lively speech, one of those which leaves nobody indifferent. Neither the independence supporters who applaud it, nor the unionist who criticised it. Many wanted to see in the speech, by the brother of former Catalan president Pasqual Maragall, a continuation of the previous legislature. But what Ernest Maragall, political veteran, actually did was, above all, to squeeze everything out of his moment of glory and make his mark. To burnish the Maragall name and give a reminder of what the 1st October referendum has led to and its final consequences, from article 155 to exile and the imprisoned ministers and deputies.
It's probably thanks to the radicalism of Maragall's speech that the one from the new speaker from the same party, Roger Torrent, of ERC, called more attention than it otherwise would have. A speech is always nuance, perceptions and assessments. The fact that pro-independence CUP would criticise it and pro-union PSC and PP would praise it immediately resolved any assessments of the speech. It's true that the speech was nothing akin to Ernest Maragall's more epic tone, nor to his own recent public positions, but Torrent bet on a speech which he himself defined as inclusive and on managing to fully reestablish the institutions of Catalan self-government. His words of agreement, dialogue and coexistence as the basis of his presidency earned, on this first day, a reasonable consensus from the opposition and a flicker of surprise from his pro-independence ranks.
Most likely, Torrent preferred the idea of making a gentle entrance into a legislature that will be anything but and decided that there will be time for conflicts and that this Wednesday wasn't the best day. The Parliament's speaker now has 15 days to hold the first investiture debate for a president which, as has been announced, will fall to Carles Puigdemont. This will be, no doubt, the first moment of tension in a legislature with a Spanish government ready to block his investiture at all costs, immediately appealing it to the Constitutional court, and with a Parliament where the 70-deputy pro-independence majority will foreseeably have to struggle with lawyers, the opposition and the justice system.
Unless they find some formula which today nobody can see which allows them to overcome the hurdle of an absent candidate. In any case, it's worth anticipating: the political and media heat to stop Puigdemont trying to be invested is going to be high. Much higher than what we've seen in the last few weeks. You just have to drop by Madrid to realise it immediately: Puigdemont is the red line.