Catalonia Today, June 29, 2006 | Making a fresh start

Politics can be a roller coaster ride, especially the tripartite. One day you're up there, victorious, the next you’re a soul in pain. Just look at the eulogies Maragall is getting – you could call it a kind of necrological generosity. Nobody now remembers Maragall's gaffes or cock-ups from his three years of government. The day after his announcement that he is to step down as president, all the analyses are friendly – even from people who, a few hours before, were heaping abuse on him. From one day to the next, Maragall has gone from being vilified to becoming a legend. With Maragall’s exit, we see an end to the generation of leaders that have directed Catalan nationalism for years. The sudden arrival of Montilla and his socialist clan is proof of a generational changeover that has arrived later at the PSC than it did in the CiU, which forced Pujol's retirement with the proclamation of Artur Mas as possible CiU president. With the Estatut passed and Maragall retired, a new political cycle begins. Those in the know proclaim the definitive end of Pujolism, which governed Catalonia for 23 years. Jose Montilla is seen as a symptom of normality, while Artur Mas is the clear favourite.

(Article de Saül Gordillo al setmanari Catalonia Today, 29 de juny de 2006, pàgina 3.)