Has state investment in Catalonia improved under Sánchez?

BarcelonaThe Spanish government has increased its average real investment in Catalonia by approximately €158.9 million annually since Pedro Sánchez took office, compared to the period under Mariano Rajoy. This increase is due, in part, to the rise in investment in Catalonia that appears in the general state budget since Sánchez took office. In fact, the fact that the total budgeted investment has grown more than the total investment actually invested means that the current government's execution rate is significantly lower than that of the previous PP administration.

Specifically, and analyzing the annual regionalized execution reports of the General Intervention of the State Administration—an agency that reports to the Ministry of Finance—and the data on public investment execution collected by the Department of Economy of the Generalitat, it is clear that Sánchez's government allocates more money than Rajoy's, the percentage that appears in the public accounts. However, to understand the figures, it is first necessary to differentiate between the budgeted amounts—those that appear on paper in the General State Budget Law—and the executed amounts—which can also be called liquidated, that is, the money that is actually spent.

Specifically, the annual average of investments executed by all the state administrations and public companies was 896.4 million euros under Sánchez and 737.5 million under Rajoy, giving the aforementioned difference of 158.9 million. This means that Sánchez has invested 21.5% more in Catalonia than Rajoy each year.

These figures range from 2013 to the first half of 2024, the latest released last week. However, they do not include 2012, when Rajoy was already in power, because until then, the Treasury had not yet published the liquidation of all state investments by autonomous region, but only those of public entities dependent on the Ministry of Public Works (currently the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility).

The increase in execution is largely due to the fact that during the three years in which the PSOE was able to approve budgets, budgeted investment in Catalonia substantially increased compared to the Rajoy years. In the 2021, 2022, and 2023 financial years, the accounts approved by Sánchez initially allocated €2.079 billion, €2.222 billion, and €2.303 billion, respectively, to investments in Catalonia. For his part, Rajoy approved financial statements every year from 2013 to 2018, and the figures ranged between 941 million and 1.328 billion. On average, the financial statements approved by Sánchez planned to allocate 954 million more to Catalonia in investment each year than those approved by Rajoy, 76.5% more.

The fact that Socialist governments budget 76.5% more investments than the Popular Party, but actually spend only 21.5% more, means that Sánchez's execution rates are much worse than Rajoy's, even though more money actually reaches Catalonia. Rajoy's worst year for execution was 2016, when he spent 55.3% of what was planned for Catalonia on investments, and his best was 2017 (curiously, the year of the referendum), when he spent 79.7%. Sánchez's governments, on the other hand, have never even spent 45%.

In other words: in millions of euros, Sánchez budgets more and invests more in Catalonia than Rajoy. However, the PP governments came closer to fulfilling what they had promised for the Principality than the Socialist leader's executives, who have never been able to liquidate even half of what they initially quantified in the State accounts.

More investments in recent years

The increase in both millions of euros budgeted and executed by the PSOE governments may have several reasons. The first, according to the PSOE, is the commitment to correct the historical lack of state investment in Catalonia. The most recent to do so was the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, who reiterated that in 2024, Catalonia was "the region with the highest level of investment executed," surpassing Madrid, which has historically been the most well-treated by the State.

Another reason is that, in general, Sánchez's governments have been able to increase the investment allocation in the budgets not only in Catalonia but in general, something that has also occurred in regional and local governments. In fact, in June 2012, at the height of the financial crisis, the Rajoy government requested a bailout from the European Union only six months after winning the elections, which led to the European authorities intervening in the State's finances for almost two years.

The budget cuts resulting from the bailout affected all areas, but especially public investment, which has still not returned to pre-crisis levels. However, when Sánchez took office in 2018, the Spanish economy was growing, and the austerity of the previous years had faded into the background.