With Pedro Sánchez's investiture now resolved, the PSC is preparing for its next ordinary congress and greasing the machinery to face the regional elections, scheduled for 2025. The party's National Council has convened the congress this Saturday, which will be held on March 13, 14 and 15. Salvador Illa, first secretary of the PSC, has announced that he intends to run for re-election. "I am at the service of Catalonia and at the service of Spain and that is precisely why I am at the service of the PSC. I announce to you on the day that the congress is convened that I will opt to present myself as the candidacy of the first secretary," he said amid a long applause.
In front of a hundred councillors, Illa underlined in his political report the leap that the party has made since 2021, when it was subject to a cordon sanitaire by the sovereigntist parties, to being central in both Catalan and Spanish politics. "We have gone from being in a corner to being central to useful politics. No useful deal has been made without us. The aim of governing Catalonia: before it was heard, ara no toca això, ara no toca. Well, today we say now and here: it's time for Catalonia," he exclaimed. Illa, who took over as prime minister in 2021 to replace Miquel Iceta, thanked his predecessor and Raquel Sánchez, who have left the Council of Ministers, and greeted Jordi Hereu, the new head of Industry.
The leader of the PSC, Salvador Illa (right), talks with the Minister of Industry and Tourism, Jordi Hereu, this Saturday in Barcelona.Quique García (EFE)
He has made no mention of the fact that the PSC has lost visibility by losing a ministry in the distribution of portfolios or the pact on amnesty. With the focus on the regional elections, Illa only mentioned that it is time to confirm that Catalonia has turned the page on "10 lost years", in allusion to the Catalan independence process, and referred to the need to address ideas and solve problems "that matter to Catalans", symbolised by the drought and the lack of renewable energy. Using the administration of former socialistpresident José Montilla as a model, Illa asked: "What kind of Catalonia do we want? The one that built the El Prat desalination plant or the one that has to look at the sky? The one that was a pioneer in renewables or the one that is at the tail end?" No water, no energy. Now it's time to govern. We have shown that the priorities of the Catalans are those of the PSC," he proclaimed.
The congress of the PSC will propose to strengthen the party and take stock of the last mandate that Miquel Iceta and Salvador Illa have shared over time. Under the eloquent title of Turning the Page, the keynote paper criticises the management of Pere Aragonès at the head of the Generalitat and is committed to the deployment of the Statute and federalism as opposed to the unilateral path, which he blames on populism and which, he says, has endangered "democratic institutionality and civil cohesion". "We are going to have a realistic debate without deception: we are playing from peus to terra," said Illa, who proposed that the conclave be open, in addition to the membership, to party supporters.
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