Six years go a long way and in politics the twists and turns, the rises and falls, the slowdowns and accelerations make any roller coaster pale. In this time, almost everything has happened in Spain and the changes have been dizzying. The acting President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, is an example of transmutation, a chameleonic model capable of adapting to circumstances in order to survive. He himself defines it as resistance or, if preferred, as a natural change of opinion.
That is what his perception of the independence movement has been, his assessment of the events of September and October 2017 in Catalonia and his opinion of Carles Puigdemont, the man who from the Generalitat promoted them to the point of trying a coup against the constitution and the state itself. The politician who, according to Sánchez, went from being a “problem” for Spain, to becoming a pure “anecdote” and who today has acquired the status of an essential prop for his investiture.
Puigdemont, unlike Sánchez, has changed little. He continues to maintain the same approach as six years ago – the self-determination referendum for Catalonia -, even before the illegal 1-0 referendum, the declaration of independence that lasted eight seconds and his flight from Spain. Today, the former president fugitive adds one more because the future depends on it: the amnesty.
Things have changed so much that just yesterday, the fugitive received a cordial visit from the Second Vice President of the Government, Yolanda Díaz. To negotiate, to normalize, to ultimately try to get Puigdemont’s support for Sánchez’s investiture, which, in turn, would ensure Díaz a commanding position.