"Enough. Let's focus on recovery" has been the mantra continuously repeated this Thursday at the Estació del Nord, the location chosen to gather business leaders in an act condemning the disturbances that have occurred in recent weeks in Barcelona and other cities. Around 300 entities from the business and economic world, but also social, cultural, and sports sectors, have supported this declaration, which advocates for exercising the right to protest peacefully and supports police forces.
"This is the event we would never have wanted to hold and which we have done reluctantly. We don't want to make more noise, but to calm things down. We want to end the anguish that people and businesses are suffering and work to restore the reputational prestige of Catalonia, of Barcelona, its capital, and of all the cities and towns of our country," stated the president of Foment del Treball, Josep Sánchez Llibre, in his speech. The business community has uniformly demanded that administrations emphasize economic and social recovery to emerge from the crisis caused by covid-19. "Govern with the priority of boosting the economy and creating employment again," Sánchez Llibre requested, in addition to urging an end to political confrontation and fostering dialogue.
The president of Foment del Treball celebrated having achieved great consensus to organize an event like this Thursday's, transversal and with high participation from various civil society entities. "Organized society is not a counter-power, it is the power, which democratically and through the vote we delegate to the Parliament and the Government. Do not stop us, govern," Sánchez Llibre stated. In this regard, he pointed out that those present at the Estació del Nord represent, no more and no less, than 90% of Catalan GDP, 400,000 companies, and 2.2 million families. "All of us present here pledge to help lift the country from the economic and social effects of the pandemic," he maintained. "Future Government, political parties, mayors, provincial councils, regional councils, all with the same objective: let's focus on recovery. We will not fail," he added.
The event, promoted by Foment del Treball, has featured the participation of the new president of Pimec, Antoni Cañete, in another demonstration of the employers' front that has been established in the Catalan business landscape after overcoming the eternal conflict of employer representativeness. But there has also been a last-minute confirmation at the event, that of the Cambra de Barcelona. The acting president of the Cambra de Barcelona, Mònica Roca, finally attended the event and occupied a prominent position, alongside Sánchez Llibre, despite not giving any speech. "It was and is very important that Mònica Roca represented the Cambra," Sánchez Llibre stressed in his speech. The organization of the event, according to the president of Foment del Treball, also served for him and Roca to meet.
Aware that the Estació del Nord is an unusual setting for business meetings, the president of Foment del Treball, Josep Sánchez Llibre, began his speech by explaining the reason for this choice. The president of the Unió de Federacions Esportives de Catalunya (UFEC), Gerard Esteve, was the one who proposed it, taking into account its dimensions, which allowed all attendees to gather while respecting safety distances. Despite this, there were accidental guests, such as users of the swimming pool and gym inside the Estació del Nord, adorned with their backpacks and without jackets or ties, who stopped to see what was happening and wondered why there were so many people sitting on the court where basketball or handball is usually played.
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Manifesto Enough is enough, let's focus on recovery
Catalan citizens, and also businesspeople, are exhausted. Precisely when, with great efforts and sacrifices in income and jobs, we were emerging from the serious financial crisis we have suffered for ten years, recovering income and jobs, we have been hit by covid-19 and by the measures adopted by different public administrations to combat it.
The apparent governmental paralysis has been aggravated by the violent and uncivilized behaviors of recent weeks that contribute to sinking, to unprecedented levels, the image of Catalonia and its capital.
Once the legitimacy of our political representatives has been renewed and on the eve of the constitution of the new Parliament of Catalonia, all sectors represented here from the world of economy, culture, and social initiative:
We manifest our commitment to recover a civic, dialoguing, cultured, tolerant Barcelona and Catalonia, economic engines and drivers of social cohesion. And, also, to continue working to improve the quality of life, attractiveness, competitiveness, and international projection of Catalonia and its economic and cultural capital.
We note that countries and cities progress socially and civically and strengthen their economy when authorities and civil society move in the same direction. Public-private collaboration is a guarantee of progress and social well-being.
We respect the exercise of the fundamental rights of assembly and demonstration. But these rights must be exercised in a civic and peaceful manner, both when expressing support and when expressing protests, respecting the freedom, security, and property of all.
We demand, when this is not the case, that the Government of the Generalitat, the Barcelona City Council, and the rest of the city councils of Catalonia exercise their democratic authority and responsibilities without complexes, in order to restore coexistence and peace in our streets. No cause justifies violent attitudes. To maintain social cohesion and jobs, it is essential to end violence, the best ally for destroying employment.
We express our enormous concern about the disturbances, acts of violence, destruction of public and private property, and looting that have occurred and continue to occur throughout the country, and especially in the city of Barcelona, capital of Catalonia. They have precedents and we fear they may be repeated. Violence and the international dissemination of the terrible images they provoke seriously harm the capacity of Barcelona and all of Catalonia to attract quality tourism, talent, and investments. They therefore compromise our collective future.
We reiterate our demand that the vandalistic acts carried out by organized radical groups be eradicated; and that these acts be subject to the most absolute condemnation, without any mitigating circumstances.
We ask the Government of the Generalitat, all political parties and the Parliament of Catalonia ---when it is constituted--- to give maximum support to the security forces, and, in particular, to the Mossos d'Esquadra corps as the democratic police of our country that defends our rights and our freedoms.
We urge the formation of the new Government without delay: a stable, cohesive and active government whose main objective is the economic recovery from the crisis caused by the pandemic. The economic crisis we face is of enormous magnitude and unprecedented in our recent history. Citizens, workers and entrepreneurs would not understand if recovery is not at the center of all government action. This is not the time for political disputes, but for cooperation, responsibility and institutional loyalty.
We require the Government of Spain, following the example of the rest of the countries of the European Union, to immediately implement and grant 50,000 million euros in direct aid to companies, self-employed workers and the sectors most affected by the pandemic to safeguard economic activity, jobs and social cohesion.
We demand a Government that defends the productive economy, employment and the welfare state; that places economic recovery and social cohesion as its main objective; that maintains order, that is, that guarantees the free and peaceful exercise of rights and freedoms for all, and the normal functioning of institutions; and that provides legal certainty.
We propose the immediate negotiation and signing of a Country Pact for the economic and social recovery of Catalonia between political forces, public administrations and civil society entities. The most transversal and with the greatest possible consensus. It is urgent and essential.
For all these reasons, the Government of the Generalitat, the Barcelona City Council, all the city councils of Catalonia and the political forces will find in us complicity and collaboration to recover normality and to achieve these objectives.