Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez's erratic handling of the government of Catalonia, especially of its president, and his unwillingness to reach an agreement with the Catalan Republican Left (ERC) party in the latest debate on the extension of Spain's state of alarm - unlike his actions with Ciudadanos and the Basque Nationalists - may be the prelude to one of two things: a change in the parliamentary majority which allowed Sánchez's re-election as PM, or a warning to the Catalan party that it must apply a different calibration to the challenges it makes to the PSOE. We will know in time, when it can separated from the interested noises of the officialist media, such as El País on Sunday, which is already calling for an alternative parliamentary majority.
Sanchez showed his teeth, which is the thing he knows how to do best. At the same time, he is courting Arrimadas, who managed to sneak out onto the dance floor when no one had invited her. Podemos can't be comfortable in this situation and sooner or later we will see signs of that. ERC, meanwhile, opts to stay in the game, waiting to see what moves will take place and if the Sánchez government will propose a new political map. As there will be a fifth state of alarm extension in ten days, we will see if there is a return to the previous situation and the self-proclaimed government of the left is anything more than a lure. Another measuring stick will be the calling of a new meeting of the dialogue table between Spanish and Catalan governments, which was key in the investiture of Sanchez in January, was constituted on February 20th, and whose second meeting set for March 13th was postponed "until the health situation resulting from the coronavirus pandemic is in another phase." It can be affirmed that this moment has come.
The economic crisis in which we are already immersed cannot cause the solution to the conflict between Catalonia and Spain to be adjourned without a new date. The Catalan government must demand the resumption of the talks between the two executives since they are the only way to bring out the true attitude of the Spanish government. Much more so now when, unlike in March, there is no observed urgency in the Supreme Court to remove president Quim Torra from office.
Speaking with the utmost caution, it seems that the head of the Catalan government has come to be regarded as no more than a minor trophy by a deep state which is much more determined to nudge prime minister Sanchez and his government into the always provocative world of the judiciary. This, at a time when at least half a dozen professional bodies and different right-wing parties are to initiate a whole battery of complaints against the executive in the Supreme Court, is not a minor issue.