These days a demand is being widely relayed via social media: that politicians — meaning those elected representatives in institutions — who receive a public salary, be it from the State, the autonomous regions or the town halls, must tighten their belt and give up part of their pay. In some cases, moreover, their salary is criticised as being too high for the little they do, something which, generally speaking, I find very worrisome and populist since, if this logic is applied, politicians will only be those with economic means, or those who would use their post as a springboard for other ends, or those who are no good for anything else. As a society we should aspire to a decent salary for our elected representatives.
This explanation was necessary to clearly state my disagreement with the slow response from the majority of elected representatives in the different administrations to lead by example in the face of the economic and health crisis caused by the coronavirus, which has devastated thousands of lives and sown the most absolute chaos and panic. I ignore what the Spanish parliament will do, but very much hope that, the sooner the better, both the Catalan government and parliament, as well as the main town councils of the country, will implement provisional measures — for the next six months? — that will complement those already notified by the Catalan chamber whereby travel expenses payments are relinquished. It would not be superfluous either, for the Bureau to withdraw the 1.75% salary increase passed last January.
At a time when temporary lay-offs schemes (ERTO) in Catalonia already affect over 600,000 workers, and when it is expected that more than one million people will be temporarily out of a job in the not too distant future, any show of social empathy and solidarity given the magnitude of the tragedy will, without a doubt, have a soothing effect on a stricken population locked in a spiralling situation in which the future appears increasingly bleak. Catalonia has always been the country of solidarity, it cannot be otherwise this time.