The confirmation that Pedro Sánchez has agreed to forgive 15,000 million euros of debt to Catalonia, to which another 1,300 million in interest are added, has unleashed a cascade of reactions in the territories that consider it a comparative grievance, including two of the three communities in which the PSOE governs. The measure was within the package of demands that ERC had posed in exchange for its votes for the investiture of the candidate for re-election, a support that was definitively sealed this Thursday.
“On the debt I have been very clear before any agreement emerged: I ask for equal treatment. I asked for it then, I ask for it now and I will ask for it in the future when I have to raise it with the Government of Spain,” warned the president of Asturias. , the socialist Adrián Barbón, who is not exactly characterized by lavishing public criticism against the decisions adopted by his party.
From Castilla-La Mancha, in turn, it has been maintained for some time that the negotiation of the new financing model cannot be bilateral only with Catalonia. It will be at a public event to be held this Friday in Ciudad Real when Emiliano García-Page, also from the PSOE, will speak with “clarity” about this issue.
In the Government of Navarra, headed by the socialist María Chivite, they have chosen not to comment – at least for now – on the matter. In contrast, in the majority of autonomous communities under the acronym of the PP they have come out in force to censure a concession to the Catalan independence movement that is added to that of the amnesty for those involved in the illegal 1-O referendum.
“After the moral humiliation, Sánchez seeks economic grievance and Andalusia says no,” said the Andalusian president, Juanma Moreno, through a thread rich in details on his official X account. “Andalusia is well managed and does not need that his debts be forgiven. Therefore, he demands: 17,800 million, equivalent by population to Sánchez’s transfer to ERC and Junts, and a compensation fund that allows us to recover the 15,000 million that Andalusia has lost with the current regional financing system. “, has added.
With a more ideological message, the Madrid baroness, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, has lamented on the same social network that “Democracy is for sale”: “Sánchez is a danger for Spain. The silence of the PSOE converts socialists of all communities into independentists”.
“If someone thinks of condoning a single cent to anyone, they have to start with the Valencian Community, in any case (…). And from there, we talk,” stressed, in turn, the president of this autonomy, Carlos Mazón. In line with his party’s speech, the popular leader has not hidden his rejection of formulas such as the reduction or condonation by the State, although he has made it clear that there is a “Valencian exceptionality”, which is none other than underfinancing of the region as a consequence of the regional financing model that has expired since 2014, reports Noa de la Torre.
The head of the Xunta de Galicia, Alfonso Rueda, has regretted, for his part, that Sánchez’s Executive had accused him a week ago of “inventing fake news for warning that this would happen”: “Today, unfortunately, it is already “It’s official. How I wish I was wrong (…). We will not tolerate being less than any community.”
Alfonso Fernández Mañueco has gone one step further and announced that they will go to court “to defend Castilla y León and the equality of all Spaniards.” “We will not remain silent in the face of injustice in terms of financing and debt forgiveness. This agreement generates inequality and gives rise to favoritism that will be grievances both for our land and for Spain as a whole,” he stressed.
Along the same lines, the president of the Region of Murcia, Fernando López Miras, has also advanced that his Government will seek “protection” in Justice because they are not going to allow “more inequality” between territories. Likewise, he has asked rhetorically if this had been agreed “without taking into account the rest of the autonomous communities.”
For the Aragonese baron, Jorge Azcón, “the PSOE continues to create first- and second-class Spaniards” and has stressed that “the forgiveness of part of Catalonia’s debt agreed between the PSOE and ERC is absolute nonsense.” To which he added: “A decision that affects us all and creates inequality among Spaniards. What Catalonia does not pay, we all pay.”
In Extremadura, the regional president, María Guardiola, has also expressed her rejection of an “absolutely unworthy” agreement, which, she has assured, “involves demolishing the principle of equality between the autonomous communities and grants privileges incompatible with the constitutional framework that protects us.” to all Spaniards”.
“We cannot accept different treatment between citizens who must be equal or economic advantages that represent discrimination against other regions,” wrote, in turn, the Cantabrian leader, María José Sáenz de Buruaga, in X. ” Enough of so much indignity!” he added.
The controversial issue of condonation began to take shape at the end of July, within the framework of preliminary negotiations with the pro-independence parties for Sánchez’s investiture. The PSC – as EL MUNDO reported at that time – supported in Parliament an amendment that supported a write-off of the debt contracted by Catalonia with the State through the Autonomous Liquidity Fund.
In this FLA – by its acronym – only the communities, in addition to the Catalan one, that requested it from the Ministry of Finance are attached: Aragón, Balearic Islands, Cantabria, Castilla-La Mancha, Extremadura, Murcia, La Rioja and the Valencian Community. The acting Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, explained after signing the agreement that this forgiveness mechanism will also be extendable to the rest of the common regime autonomies that are within this fund.
