Rodalies Portrays ERC's Strategy Failure

ERC and Junts have gone from challenging the State to competing to see who can get more concessions from the central Government for Catalonia. This is the so-called post-procés era, in which the pro-independence parties try to stop their decline by adapting to the new reality. This leads them to make "historic" agreements to sell big headlines, without closing the small details that later end up being fatal.

Their most resounding failure was the amnesty, which they sold as something historic a year ago but in many cases is still not applied. Another example, the transfer of immigration powers. Despite Junts's chest-thumping, experts and the Mossos themselves have warned that without an increase in personnel, it will be impossible.

The failure has been especially resounding in the case of ERC. Seeing Junts's ambitious demands with the spending cap or immigration, Esquerra based its strategy on singular financing and the full transfer of the Rodalies service.

In February, they proposed replacing singular financing with a consortium with the State, a measure they later had to withdraw in the face of a barrage of criticism. Now the same has happened with the transfer of Rodalies. ERC has accepted shared management for two years to avoid the strike by Renfe and Adif workers.

Both negotiations reveal the failure of ERC's strategy of negotiating big agreements behind reality or without tying up the small details.

ERC's Failed Strategy

The singular financing scheduled for 2025 was a challenge that experts already pointed out as too ambitious. The transfer of the railway network sparked a labor conflict due to the uncertainty it caused among workers. ERC has tried to rectify in both cases, but the remedy has ended up being worse than the disease.

Those who suffer the consequences are the Catalans. The singular financing forced the extension of the budgets in Catalonia for another year, putting projects and investments in the public sector at risk. The transfer of Rodalies has ended up causing greater chaos in the Catalan railway network, with delays and canceled trains.

This last episode has been especially painful. It dramatically reflects how the irresponsibility of the ruling parties in Catalonia negatively conditions the day-to-day life of the middle and working classes. The parties' interests take precedence over the needs of the Catalans, who are already fed up.

Catalonia, Getting Worse

This Monday, an avalanche of criticism of ERC leaders for their false promise (yet another) of the transfer of Rodalies. The feeling is growing that both ERC and Junts are playing to safeguard their own interests at the expense of risking the quality of life of the citizens.

The failure of Rodalies highlights another contradiction of ERC. Junqueras wanted to turn the party into a reference for labor struggle, and he is not even able to guarantee that workers reach their destination. Meanwhile, their leaders all move by car without suffering the mishaps.

Ten years after the start of the Procés, there has been no independence, and Catalonia continues to fall in all standards of quality of life. Citizens are paying more and more taxes to live in a place where trains don't work, there are endless waiting lists, and a resounding school failure. A place where crime runs rampant and public services are losing quality.

These are the consequences of the pro-independence movement, a system in which parties blame each other while no one is able to guarantee that trains arrive on time. Although people have already pointed out the culprits, and they could receive their punishment in the next elections.