Josep Huguet i Biosca
Minister of Trade, Tourism and Consumer Affairs (2004-2006)
President of the Josep Irla Foundation
The historical acceleration of the developments that we're experiencing these days is so great that it can only be explained as the result of a silent accumulation of structural contradictions that may blow up at any moment.
I was thinking this as I was considering three anecdotes that may well be of enduring significance.
At the opening of Hutchison's new terminal in the port of Barcelona, the important story was not the anecdote about President Artur Mas trying to avoid being photographed next to the King, but the fact that the Spanish state has failed to honour the agreement, dating from 2002, to construct railway links from the port to the main railway line to the French border at La Jonquera.
The representative of the giant Chinese corporation was visibly upset by this lack of seriousness on the part of Spain, and declared that they would hold off the construction of a second terminal here until the government kept its word.
And here we are, faced with a strategic opportunity to become the main port of arrival for goods coming to Europe from China—replacing the Netherlands!
Some Catalan businessmen still hover between doubt and fear when it comes to the new political developments. Do they really think this decade-long decision not to construct that railway link has nothing to do with the independence question (which until recently was a minority position) or with the economic crisis of four years ago?
Meanwhile, Spain continues to spend our money on building useless high-speed railway lines—creating, in the process, continuing maintenance costs, which will also be paid for with our money as long as we are part of Spain.
Behind the chronic failure to invest in the port (and airport) of Barcelona lies a political decision: an economic war waged against Catalonia by the elites frequenting the VIP boxes in the Real Madrid football stadium.
It is for these reasons that the Parliament of Catalonia decided to start a peaceful and democratic process towards Catalan self-determination this week. As in any situation where one partner is abusing another, the separation can only be beneficial to both sides. The level of indignation on our side, even among the conservative people of Catalonia, is shown by the altercation between Messrs. Javier Solana (former Foreign Affairs Minister, former head of EU diplomacy and of Nato) and Jordi Pujol (former President of Catalonia) in a business conference this week.
Solana dismissed the new process with the usual aristocratic arrogance that the working people and middle classes of Catalonia will never understand.
Pujol—characterising himself for the first time as an espanyolista—a politician generally inclined to favour Catalonia's place in Spain (which in truth he has been)—replied by declaring that for people like him, however, matters have now reached a point of no return.
A point of no return, indeed, as confirmed by the sabre-rattling advocacy of military terrorism—coup d'etat—expressed by the Spanish Nationalist member of the European Parliament Mr. Alejo Vidal-Quadras, who by his statements on Spanish TV may have joined the ranks of future defendants in the International Tribunal in the Hague.
These developments certainly do lead to social and economic destabilisation, and will be studied closely by business analysts from around the world.
It would be strongly advisable if some corporate leaders of a conservative orientation would step forward and rein in their hooligans—if nothing else, for the good of the economy
It would be strongly advisable if some corporate leaders of a conservative orientation would step forward and rein in their hooligans—if nothing else, for the good of the economy
0 comentaris:
Post a Comment