Junts Corners Salvador Illa Over the Blackout and Demands Resignations

The President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, appeared this afternoon in Parliament to provide explanations about last Monday's power outage. In response to the criticisms received, Illa defended his government's management. According to him, his priority was always to protect people and restore the service.

The President took pride in his management, highlighting that the Govern held up to seven crisis cabinet meetings. He also positively assessed that the medical and security services functioned correctly.

He acknowledged that things can be done better, but he asked all parties to row in the same direction in times of crisis. However, the opposition was especially harsh with the Govern's management during the outage. Junts pointed out the three crises of the Govern in eight months and once again called for resignations.

"The Govern Is Not Doing Well"

"The Govern is not doing well, and this is not good for Catalonia." This is how Albert Batet began his intervention this afternoon in the monographic session on the power outage.

Junts focused their criticism on the lack of leadership and communication. Batet highlighted that "the citizens rose to the occasion despite your government." Also that "the radios did the work you didn't do."

"People were bewildered, cities were paralyzed, and meanwhile, you and your government, where were you?" the Junts deputy reproached.

Batet said that "it wasn't the services that failed, but your government," and he asked for accountability. "Who directed the communication strategy during the outage? Do you plan to make resignations?" he asked.

"You've been in office for eight months, and it's evident that this isn't working. We all pay for your mistakes. We ask you to rectify for the good of the country," he concluded.

Junts Highlights Their Isolation

Beyond the outage, Junts wanted to portray a weak government beset by crises. Batet highlighted that in just eight months, the Govern has already faced three crises. In addition to Rodalies and the outage, Junts adds the DGAIA scandal "which is on its way to becoming a major national crisis."

Batet asked the President not to hide and to lead and communicate. Junts thus raises the tone of their criticism of the executive after Illa reinforced his alliance with ERC and Comuns.

But Batet's intervention also highlighted Junts's weakness, which despite the harsh tone is incapable of forcing Illa's resignation. The main opposition party is isolated with 35 deputies and without firm leadership. For now, Illa can remain calm.