Madrid’s enforcer sent in to oversee the day-to-day running of Catalonia’s affairs after the regional government and police chief were fired, is Spain’s deputy prime minister, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría. Born 10 June 1971 she’s a former lawyer, seen as competent, though charisma-free and untainted by corruption. An election will be held on December 21st, as tr Saturn moves into Capricorn and crosses the Sun, so downbeat.
She’s a Sun Gemini trine Mars in Aquarius trine Uranus in Libra; with Saturn Venus in Taurus trine Pluto and opposition Jupiter in Scorpio and Neptune in Sagittarius – a thinker and communicator with a practical and very stubborn streak.
Her Saturn Venus opposition Jupiter Neptune sits exactly on top of the Catalonia (11 May 1258 JC) Taurus Sun opposition Pluto – which makes sense of a Saturnine overseer, up against the implacable determination of the Catalonia Pluto.
She already knows the main players having been in charge of territorial affairs, and her interface with Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont is heavily stressed with her Uranus square his Capricorn Sun; her Sun square his Pluto; and her Mars conjunct his Saturn (Moon) in Aquarius – differing agendas, a power-play and outright dislike.
Their relationship chart has a composite Sun (conjunct Saturn) opposition Uranus Pluto and trine Mars Neptune. With Mars Neptune square the composite Venus – rebellious and power-struggling, an ego-clash where only one can win so not much hope of a compromise.
She looks over-stretched and over-taxed through November with tr Pluto square her Sun/Mars which also carries the risk of violence; and less than cheerful into early 2018; worse in 2019. Though it’s not clear whether she’ll stay after the December election.
I lived for a decade just over the border in Catalan France, two hours north of Barcelona, and it was an eye-opener just how visceral was the Catalans’ dislike of Castilian Madrid, including the Castilian (Spanish) language. They are enormously proud of their cultural and artistic heritage (Gaudi, Dali etc), teach Catalan as a first language in schools, are resourceful in business and commerce; and memories of the Spanish Civil War are ever present. The opening shots of the war in 1936 were fired in Barcelona and the city’s anarchist revolutionary fervour attracted volunteers from all over Europe, until it fell to a crushing defeat in 1939 by the fascist dictator Franco’s forces. They may not have an army and Puigdemont is called for peaceful resistance but their determination will not be easily swayed.
“I lived for a decade just over the border in Catalan France, two hours north of Barcelona, and it was an eye-opener just how visceral was the Catalans’ dislike of Castilian Madrid, including the Castilian (Spanish) language. They are enormously proud of their cultural and artistic heritage (Gaudi, Dali etc), teach Catalan as a first language in schools, are resourceful in business and commerce; and memories of the Spanish Civil War are ever present. The opening shots of the war in 1936 were fired in Barcelona and the city’s anarchist revolutionary fervour attracted volunteers from all over Europe, until it fell to a crushing defeat in 1939 by the fascist dictator Franco’s forces. They may not have an army and Puigdemont is called for peaceful resistance but their determination will not be easily swayed.”
Yes, but they are also, following the stereotype of resourceful business people, seeing how the Puigdemont’s gambit hurts their business. 1700 businesses are said to be transferring their headquarters, or “domicilio fiscal”, outside Catalonia, because they can’t risk Spanish and EU sanctions, meaning their local tax revenue will go elsewhere. Mayor of Barcelona is furious with the separatists being hasty for this reason. Not even all proud Catalans – many of who are related to Spanish speakers by now, especially in bigger cities – are happy with Puigdemont and his bunch either. Right now, there are up to million people (anyway, at least 300 000), marching in Barcelona AGAINST Independence. And, politically, almost half of the Local Parliament abstained from that Independence Vote. Now polls show “The Independist” parties loosing with over 3 per cent margin, at the time, in new elections in December.
Overall, there’s a really big sense that this whole Referendum thing was arranged hastily and without a proper strategic overview. In a country such as Spain, used to political turmoil – remember, they didn’t have a government for 10 months in 2015-2016 -, it’s probable the situation will now stall for ages, unless external pressure will produce a call for action. Something is obviously up with King Felipe, so I’m not counting out renegociating Constitution will happen in a year or two. But up until that, it’s mainly about who’s holding bigger rallies.
Thinking about how the conspiracy theorists imagine we are being herded towards a One World government, when it’s obvious the world is becoming more tribal and separatist.