Barcelona is watching a familiar ERC problem play out again, how to keep Gabriel Rufián’s reach without letting him pull the party off course. According to Ara Cat, the Santa Coloma de Gramenet MP has built a political profile that now sits partly outside Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya’s usual line, just as the party prepares for a new electoral cycle.
Rufián is not just a dissenting voice, Ara Cat argues, he has become a figure with his own agenda and enough public support to overshadow the party. He is especially well rated among Catalan voters, including people outside the independence movement, and he also has strong backing among Spanish left-wing voters. That gives ERC a wider audience, but it also makes the party harder to steer.
For party leader Oriol Junqueras, the dilemma is clear. ERC cannot easily afford to lose Rufián’s electoral pull, but copying his style could weaken the party’s longer-term strategy. Ara Cat says Rufián is pushing a politics of “resistance” rather than independence, with the Catalan question pushed back while attention shifts to the PP, Vox and Junts per Catalunya.
That approach points towards a broader plurinational left-wing front, with better coordination in Madrid among ERC, Bildu, BNG, Compromís and Adelante Andalucía. In theory, that could put self-determination and plurinationality back at the centre of Spanish politics, and either pressure the PSOE or act as a barrier to the Spanish right. Ara Cat also questions Rufián’s motives, noting that the parties most aligned with his line are Sumar, Podem and Comuns, all of which are currently weak in the polls.
ERC’s wider position is not strong either. The article points to a difficult electoral run, including setbacks around the presidency of Pere Aragonès and mayoralties in Lleida, Tarragona and other major cities. Junqueras’s own future also depends on judicial decisions, which adds another layer of uncertainty. The party is trying to balance pragmatism and conditional support for the Socialists, but that formula is harder to sell in Catalonia, especially after repeated problems with the PSC.
Ara Cat says Rufián is also detached from day-to-day party life. He rarely appears with Junqueras, often skips over internal party dynamics, and tends to focus his fire on Junts while offering cautious praise for Sumar and the PSOE. He has also stayed quiet on PSC government disputes over public education and healthcare. For ERC, the question is whether that distance helps broaden its appeal, or leaves voters unsure what the party actually stands for.
For more Barcelona political coverage, see our Community and Sport sections for the wider local agenda, and follow the party’s own site at Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya. The original analysis was published by Ara Cat.
