Junts and PSC get closer in Tarragona: Is sociovergence coming back?

Municipal politics in Catalonia once again bring important news that can be extrapolated to regional politics. Junts will decide this week whether to join the municipal government of PSC's Rubén Viñuales in Tarragona. The decision has the approval of the leadership and would mark an important turning point in the distribution of territorial power.

It should be remembered that Junts was left practically without territorial power in the 2023 municipal elections. A catastrophic pact policy designed by Jordi Turull left them without government in the four provincial capitals and out of the provincial councils.

The post-convergents are aware that they need to regain power to strengthen themselves before the next municipal (2027) and Catalan (2028) elections. Tarragona has provided an opportunity they are not willing to pass up, even though the pact with PSC's Viñuales, a former member of Ciudadanos, causes discomfort among their voters.

Shocking close to sealing an agreement

Junts and PSC have been showing good rapport in the Tarragona city council for months. In addition to approving the accounts, both parties have been negotiating for some time the entry of the post-convergents into the municipal government. This would give stability to the socialists and allow Junts to emerge a bit more from their isolation.

According to ACN, they have exchanged documents and have even begun to plan the new government and the distribution of council positions. It seems that the agreement is very advanced, and it is most appreciated by the business community.

Catalan economic circles have long been yearning for a sociovergencia that steers Catalan politics toward the center and provides stability. In fact, Illa's alliance with ERC and Comuns has caused frustration among businesspeople. The employers' association has publicly expressed their dissatisfaction with Illa for the hopes they placed in him.

It is still too early to think that the pact could be extrapolated to Catalan politics. The current political landscape indicates just the opposite: a progressive distancing between PSC and Junts that will lead to a new confrontation in the upcoming electoral contests.

Is sociovergencia returning?

But, although the agreement has been led by local representatives (Rubén Viñuales and Jordi Sendra), it has had the endorsement of Junts's leadership. And this, for businesspeople, is a good sign of rapprochement between both parties.

Both in PSC and Junts, there are sectors convinced that spaces of understanding must be opened to strengthen the political center against the extremes. Businesspeople appreciate Illa's restoration of normality after the Procés. But at the same time, they distrust his alliance with ERC and Comuns and ask him to get closer to Junts.

The return of sociovergencia in a provincial capital is not a minor issue. Although they will have to keep working hard to transfer the agreement to a national dimension. Many see Puigdemont as the main obstacle to this.

It will also be necessary to see how the Tarragona agreement affects Junts's membership and electorate. The pact also questions Junts's criticism of ERC for the pacts with the "more Spanishist" PSC. The pro-independence bases, resentful of the betrayal by the pro-independence parties, may feel tempted to continue the exodus toward Aliança Catalana.