Business owners fed up with trying to please everyone
BarcelonaThere are underlying shifts. Typically, Catalan civil society is critical from behind the scenes, yet polite and pragmatic in its approach to political power. But this seems to be changing somewhat. In some meetings and gatherings, business representatives are calling for action, for a certain mobilization to overcome challenges such as mobility (commuter rail, for example), the green transition, and reducing administrative bureaucracy. Some are a bit tired of always trying to please everyone and are demanding that politicians work more for the country's interests and less for those of their own party or some of its leaders.
A few days ago, the board of the Círculo de Economía (Circle of Economy), chaired by Teresa Garcia-Milà, issued the first opinion piece of its term, which addressed immigration, one of the issues often used in politics as a political weapon or with populist rhetoric. And he even proposed regulating the entry of immigrants and adapt it to a more productive economic model. And the president of the Chamber of Commerce, Josep Santacreu, through an article in the ARAHe called for action: "We must move from skepticism to action. We cannot wait any longer," he stated. Time will tell if this turbulent situation unsettles the parliamentary spectrum and if the parties realize that, in some matters, consensus and national agreements are needed to provide stability and legal certainty. Will they understand?
Balances and calculations
Junts has repeatedly requested the Ministry of Finance to publish the fiscal balances, which show what the autonomous community receives in relation to what it contributes to the whole. And it is always a negative balance. And it still is, As reported this week by ARA, but less than the post-convergent parties expected. In any case, it remains a structural burden. Some claim that Junts representatives had been blocking the publication of this data until now. Other sources explain that Carles Puigdemont's party advocated publishing only the calculation using the monetary flow method, which shows the largest deficit for Catalonia. The truth is that few deny there is a discrepancy. The question is how to quantify it. The monetary flow method measures the direct injection of state funds into a territory and, therefore, its discretionary power. The burden-benefit method, which territorially redistributes the cost of centralized services (defense and embassies), measures the final spending capacity and the real benefit for citizens. With a deficit of 8.2% of GDP using the former and 5.7% using the latter, it is clear there is room to negotiate a new level of solidarity. Some advocate leaving it at half.
