Spain Non-separatist ahead of election as head of government in Catalonia

Salvador Illa is about to be elected as the new head of government of the Spanish conflict region of Catalonia.

At the end of a round of consultations, the 58-year-old socialist was nominated as a candidate by Catalan parliamentary president Josep Rull because he had enough support from other parties. The debate and vote on Illa's candidacy is to take place on Thursday in the parliament in Barcelona.

If he is actually elected head of government less than three months after the new elections, Illa would be the first politician in office for a long time who is against Catalan independence. However, if there is no new government by August 25, new elections will have to be held.

The socialist will try to get along with the more moderate separatists

Illa proved his worth as Spain's health minister during the pandemic in Madrid. In Barcelona, he will have to make do as head of a coalition government with the more left-wing Comuns party and, above all, with the left-wing separatist party ERC.

On Friday, the ERC base approved the controversial agreement to form a government with the socialists of Illa and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. Sánchez sees the agreement as a success for his policy of appeasement. Opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo, however, describes the cooperation with separatists as a "disgrace".

The ERC of the incumbent regional president Pere Aragonès only came third in the early election on May 12, behind Illa's Socialists and the liberal Junts of separatist leader Carles Puigdemont. The party could also have attempted to form a government with Puigdemont, who is considered more radical than Aragonès.

Among other things, the coalition agreement provides for Catalonia to collect its own taxes in future, similar to the Basque Country and Navarre, and pay a portion to the central government. Until now, Madrid has collected the taxes and forwarded a portion to Catalonia, as is the case in most of the so-called autonomous communities in Spain.

The return of separatist leader Puigdemont could cause unrest

Puigdemont, who wanted to lead Catalonia to independence in the fall of 2017 with a referendum that was declared illegal, cannot return home from exile in Belgium without risking arrest, despite an amnesty law. He is nevertheless expected to return for the parliamentary debate, which could cause unrest.

Sánchez had promised the amnesty to the "Catalanistas" in order to secure the votes of the two separatist parties for his re-election in November. However, the judiciary has not yet lifted the arrest warrant against Puigdemont. This and the agreement with ERC could cause problems for Sánchez's minority government, as the Socialists in the parliament in Madrid are also dependent on the votes of the Junts.

SDA