There are two truths in the Catalonia/Spain conflict. One that those of us who defend independence have plenty of reasons to consider it the best option, from economic and political reasons to identity. As Sabina would say, “we have plenty of reasons”, and that is why the denial of these reasons was the first thing that was activated when telling the story against. The other truth, in reverse: those who are against independence also accumulate reasons of all kinds. If in this country we had been able to have a serene debate on the conflict, without the perverse hysteria that has hijacked it, it would have been a dialectical fencing of enormous social interest. But it is not necessary to remember how things have gone: denying the right to a referendum implied denying the reasons that supported the petition, so that there was only room for the demonization of the arguments and the criminalization of the protagonists. And so we have arrived at the current painful situation, with the debate divided into hermetic islands, without bridges for words to pass through.
However, beyond the dependency-independence issue, which segments public opinion, there is an aspect of the Catalan reality that should present a more forceful battle than the simple declarations made by each other. In summary, it is understandable that a part of the citizenry wants to stay in Spain, or sit comfortably Spanish, but It is incomprehensible that feeling Spanish implies accepting the grievances of the Spanish State against Catalan interests. And at this point, the data is so unappealable that even the most courteous economic organizations make it their own, those that day after day lay out the carpet for the King to walk around Catalonia. To specify with examples: it is understandable that one wants to be Spanish, but It is not understood that he accepts having such a poor Rodalies service, that damages the interests of Catalan users on a daily basis. Let us remember the official data extracted from Adif. In the last 10 months there have been 44% more incidents in Catalonia than in Cercanías de Madrid: 323 incidents, from delays to suspensions, which is equivalent to one incident per day. 62% of breakdowns are due to infrastructure and the investment figures are a scandal: in 2021, 245.74 million were budgeted for Rodalies, but only 21.6%, 53.14 million, were executed. In the same period, Adif doubled its investments in Madrid, exceeding the planned budget: 181.83 million euros. Let’s repeat it in comparison: 53 million in Rodalies-Catalunya, 181 in Cercanías-Madrid. And if we talk about high speed: only 22 million of the 492 budgeted have been executed in Catalonia, 4.6%.
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If we turn to global investments, the offense is so scandalous that it should put the entire Catalan society on its feet. Let us remember that in 2021 the State has executed only 35.7% of the budget (739.8 million of the 2,068 budgeted), with the added offense that in the public business sector it has only reached 27%. The comparison with Madrid is a monumental joke: they increased investment by 84% over budget, with special allocations in transport, mobility and digital transformation, which received more than 157 million that were not even planned. That is to say, 184% in Madrid of execution, 35.6% in Catalonia. If we add the fact that we accumulate a scandalous breach of budgeted investments in the last ten years, and that these budgets are already underfunded with respect to the demography and the GDP of Catalonia, the total sum is a real plunder of the interests of ALL Catalans, whether they are a lot, a little or not at all Spanish. It only remains to drive home the latest scandal figure, the increase in the fiscal deficit, which this year stands at 20,196 million (8.5% of GDP), to understand that the offense against Catalonia is a very serious damage to economic dynamism from the country. Just imagining what could be invested in health or education, if the deficit were reduced, should set off alarm bells.
Hence, it is worth asking the question: being against independence or singing ‘Viva España’ implies swallowing the grievances and miseries that it represents? There is a great abyss between feeling Spanish and allowing your shirt to be blatantly lifted in the name of Spain. When it is accepted, the silence of the Catalan de facto powers becomes a necessary accomplice to the plundering in Catalonia.