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At yesterday's meeting between Vice President Montero and the finance ministers of all the autonomous communities, we heard yet another of those phrases that will go down in the anthology of what used to be called anti-Catalanism and is now more accurately described as Catalanophobia. The honor belongs to the finance minister of Andalusia, Carolina España:
"Caviar and champagne" for us, and for everyone else, "the set menu." Caviar and champagne, with a multi-million dollar fiscal deficit? When you have more than 20% of the population at risk of poverty? "Caviar"? With Catalonia's cost of living? Well, yes, caviar, privileges, Catalonia is robbing us, etc. We've reached a point where the model negotiated with Esquerra is unwanted by both the PSOE and PP-governed regions.
It doesn't matter that Andalusia receives the most money, that Murcia increases its revenue the most, and that Cantabria continues to receive the most per capita.And since no one can fathom the idea of the State putting another 21 billion euros on the table and the beneficiaries not wanting it, Spanish Vice President Montero said the system will be voluntary, that any community that doesn't want it can continue with the current one. It's a logical but rhetorical, desperate solution. When things are done badly, it's difficult for them to turn out well. Let me explain.
By now we know that anything Catalonia negotiates on its own thanks to the strength of its votes is flawed from the start. And even more so now that Puigdemont is a fugitive and Junqueras is disqualified. But remember that all this already happened to Convergència, which was pro-autonomy. And if we go back a century, it happened to the Regionalist League. We accept the validity of one argument: something multilateral like the financing of everyone cannot be negotiated bilaterally with only one party involved. There's some truth to it. But is there an alternative? When it turns out that the financing system had been outdated for years without anyone taking the step to update it. And when it turns out that Spanish governments are only interested in negotiating it when they're in the minority. Is it normal that the Spanish government has now found 21 billion euros for the autonomous communities to provide the basic and expensive services they offer, such as healthcare, education, and social services? No, it isn't. That's why reviewing the financing system is always a nightmare.
Everything becomes clearer if we get to the heart of the discussion. In the argument that you can't negotiate only with Esquerra (or previously with Convergència) if it's for all of Spain. But why do you think they have autonomy in Castile, Extremadura, Murcia, and Cantabria? Well, because Catalonia and the Basque Country had it before the Civil War, and during the Transition they demanded it: "Freedom, amnesty, Statute of Autonomy." That plurinational reality (the Constitution even speaks of "nationalities") was duly deactivated, but it made the decentralized state possible (a monitored decentralization, but decentralization nonetheless). Therefore, it has always been the case that changes in Spain have been brought about by Catalonia.
But this reality doesn't matter. Because the narrative has won out over reality and has become reality. And the narrative is that the Catalans take everything. Champagne and caviar for us, and pre-cooked set menus for them. It doesn't matter that we have an unbearable fiscal deficit. It's a narrative that is fundamental to being Spanish; it's the way of seeing Spain. Period. That's why there's nothing to be done.
Good morning.