The abstention promoted by radical sectors of the independence movement in Catalonia is considered the great danger for ERC in these general elections. In the municipal elections, this movement cost the Republicans more than 300,000 votes.. So Oriol Junqueras has jumped on the victim wave generated by the loss of the Barcelona mayorship by Xavier Trias. For this reason, he has chosen to ask Ernest Maragall to go number two in the formation on the Senate list as a way of mobilizing the reluctant electorate to return to supporting the party.

“I present myself to respond to the pact of the socialists for which they have taken away the mayoralty of Barcelona. I ask the public to go from vetoing to voting,” Maragall declared at the ceremony where his appointment was presented.. Pasqual Maragall's younger brother, at 80, continues like this with his open war against the PSC, taking it to another level and transferring it to Madrid. “I am going to Madrid to recover the key that Sumar has taken from Barcelona,” insisted Maragall. Before, the candidate had blamed Ada Colau for having “abandoned Barcelona to deliver it to Madrid”.

If Ernest Maragall intends to take revenge on the PSC, ERC proposes the same to its pro-independence voters: a revenge for the loss of the mayoralty of the Catalan capital, a pact that its leaders consider illegitimate. “A 155 for Barcelona”, as defined by Maragall himself. ERC sources explain that the decision was made this Monday, as a means of responding to what is considered an unjustifiable veto for Republicans to be present in the municipal government.

Maragall's appointment occurs the day after the ANC has activated what is called “the fourth space”. The ANC met in Girona this Sunday and approved the creation of a group of voters, which will require some 50,000 signatures —1% of the electoral roll— to be able to stand in the Parliamentary elections. Members of the secretariat will not be candidates. But the danger is there. And the organization is the spearhead of the abstentionist movement so that the pro-independence voter punishes ERC, JxCAT and the CUP by disregarding the polls on July 23. If the campaign is a success, the so-called “fourth space”, with Clara Ponsatí, Josep Costa and other figures at the helm, will have a free track.

I will be a candidate for @Esquerra_ERC on the Senate list without ceasing to be a councilor in #Barcelona.

ERC asks me and I present myself to respond to the State pact against the democratic will at BCN.
An unworthy show starring Collboni, Colau and Sirera as… pic.twitter.com/NTuOhXzsK1

— Ernest Maragall and Mira (@ernestmaragall) June 19, 2023

ERC had to move piece. It remains to be shown that an 80-year-old senator is capable of mobilizing that frustrated voter, because after the mobilizations that began in 2012, independence has not only not arrived, but is further away than ever.

economic bicoca

A senator has a base salary of 3,050 euros per month, 14 payments plus allowances, which raise it to 4,000 euros per month for those who do not live in Madrid. Ernest Maragall, since he disassociated himself from the PSC, has had great ability to continue attracting well-paid public positions. Its role will be rather that of a fetish to remind the voter what is considered an intolerable interference by Madrid in the appointment of the mayor of the Catalan capital.

The head of the list for Congress is Gabriel Rufián. ERC is clear that the objective is to block the way for a possible coalition of the PP and Vox, as the polls show. Xavier Trias is trying something similar, but he is not making a personal commitment. In fact, he has already said that at some point he will leave municipal politics, although he has not said when he will carry out this resignation from his position as councilor..

As number two in the Senate, Ernest Maragall will contribute little to the political direction of the Republicans in Madrid. The strategy will continue to revolve around Gabriel Rufián. But, once again, the independence policy lives on the symbols.

A lawyer, of one

ERC's number one for the Senate is Joan Queralt, a lawyer known as a public speaker in the Generalitat's public media. He is not the only opinion maker who has gone into politics in these general elections thanks to the Republicans. Number three for the Congress is the journalist Francesc Marc Alvaro. And Ruffian himself has a talk show on 8TV. But despite the search for familiar faces in the media, the polls look bad. Between eight and nine deputies for ERC, when it now has 13 in Congress.

In fact, one of Pedro Sánchez's problems is that a part of his natural partners is dwindling, as is the case with ERC, and others, such as the PNV, are already preparing to agree with the PP in the event of Alberto's victory. Núñez Feijóo.