The public administration from which the officials leave
Some regional councils have many vacant positions due to low salaries compared to other institutions.
Santa Coloma de Farners (La Selva)There is a public administration that is little known to many citizens, but vital to the daily lives of the regions, where filling vacant jobs is becoming a true odyssey. Civil servants are leaving, lured by significantly better salaries in other institutions, even if they are miles away from where they live. We are talking about the regional councils, a tool for territorial rebalancing that reports to the Generalitat (Catalan government) and is responsible for tasks such as water purification, social services, school cafeterias, and school transportation in many medium-sized and small towns.
"In the La Selva Regional Council, every day someone bends us over," exclaims Martí Pujals, mayor of Tossa de Mar and president of this territorial entity since the summer of 2023 after having been its manager since 2014. He defines the situation as "critical" because they cannot find the criticism because they are finding themselves "critical" because they are finding themselves. In total, they are short 10% of their workforce. "In my inaugural address in July 2023, I already warned of the challenge ahead, but now the situation is critical: we are struggling to retain operational capacity, not to mention retaining talent," he says.
The Baix Empordà Regional Council is in a similar, though not as serious, situation. They have thirteen vacancies, primarily in engineering and IT technicians, and advanced and technical architecture. On the other side of the Selva, Osona is suffering a similar "brain drain," especially toward the Barcelona Metropolitan Area, with salaries for the same category 1,000 euros gross per month higher. The president of the council, Gerard Sancho, explains with relief that at least this year they can breathe a sigh of relief because they have finally filled the vacancies for architects and engineers, after encountering several unfilled competitions.
Lack of financial resources
In all these cases, the root of the problem in finding staff is the same: low salaries, the result of years of funding problems. County councils are finalist institutions that emerged from the recovery of the counties under the 1987 law. Their finalist nature means they lack the capacity, unlike city councils, to collect taxes. This means they are directly dependent on the funds allocated to them, primarily by the Generalitat (Generalitat), as well as by city councils and the respective provincial councils for the services provided.
This is an endemic problem in the history of regional councils, one that the Regional Forum—the umbrella organization currently chaired by Sònia Gràcia, president of the Gironès Regional Council and mayor of Fornells de la Selva—has always championed. But now the problem has worsened with rising inflation, the renewal of public administration positions, and, something that is not widely considered, the contesting of more and more competitions, which requires them to work longer hours on technical tasks.
For Pujals, of the La Selva Regional Council, the problem of funding is compounded by the problem of "credibility" due to the constant complaints, which make it hard to believe that the situation is now "critical." In his case, the key is the Generalitat's fund, which is not tied to specific services, amounting to 900,000 euros for the past decade, plus the 900,000 euros it receives from other administrations. "We would need that two million euro fund to be five million euros. Otherwise, we can't afford it," he points out.
Meeting with the President
Following the acute funding problem, the Regional Forum agreed in December to request a meeting with the new government to get down to business. The meeting with the Minister of the Presidency will be on April 7, and Gràcia, from the Gironès Regional Council, already indicates that the Socialist government is willing to find solutions. Glòria Marull, president of the Baix Empordà Regional Council and mayor of Serra de Daró, is also optimistic and emphasizes that this is not a current problem but rather a result of years of underfunding. She also admits that any change will depend on the approval of a new Catalan budget.
Meanwhile, Baix Empordà has accelerated the process of job evaluation and salary equalization in the regional council. "Now we are fighting to begin to make external equalizations," he notes. In his case, he admits that the salary differences for a technician can "quietly" be 1,000 euros gross per month. And, as an example, he compares this with the salaries of the Provincial Council: "An administrative assistant earns 1,400 euros net per month; in contrast, an A2 technician, the highest rank, earns 200 or 300 euros less per month in the Regional Council." In other words, for greater responsibility comes lower pay, which drives many workers to end up leaving.
Salary Differences
If it's an entity linked to the Generalitat (Catalan regional government), why don't workers have the same salary scales? The regional councils, despite being final entities, have independent governing bodies that represent the plurality, at the municipal level, of a territory. But the lack of updated funding has led to historical problems that have resulted in a specific situation of personnel problems. At the end of January, the Alt Empordà Regional Council completed the salary revaluation process. In a letter to the Three Wise Men written by the workers, they denounced that they were in a critical situation, earning between €300 and €500 less per month than other local entities in the region or neighboring regions.
Likewise, all public administrations continue to have a cap on salary increases from one year to the next, and in the case of the councils, of which there are a total of 40 in Catalonia, each has a different situation. At the last Regional Forum, sponsored by the Catalan Association of Municipalities, it was precisely La Selva and Osona that raised their voices the most. "If we believe the councils, we must provide them," concludes Gràcia, president of the Regional Forum. "We trust that the Government will respond to the critical situation we are experiencing."
What are regional councils and how do they work?
If a trivia question asked you to explain the main functions of a regional council, would you be successful? Would you be able to name, not just the name, but the political party that governs it? More than 30 years after their creation, the functions and organization of these territorial entities are still completely unknown to the majority of the population. It's no surprise, then, that it's even more difficult to understand the demands for better funding and, above all, equal pay for civil servants who easily earn 300 euros less per month than another public employee in another institution with the same working conditions.
How are the full regional councils elected?
Catalonia has a total of 40 regional councils, one for each region, except for the Barcelonian region—which was eliminated a few years ago—and the Vall d'Aran region. Perhaps one of the reasons for this lack of visibility is that citizens do not directly elect their governments. Every four years, after the municipal elections, the parties divide the pie in this body. Despite staffing problems in the technical field, especially in computer scientists, engineers, and architects, but also in the administrative field, the regional councils are not short of politicians. Each regional council has a large plenary session, made up of councilors from various parties, whose function is to represent the region. In Catalonia as a whole, there are a total of 1,040 elected officials.
Which party controls the majority of councils?
Since the last municipal elections, Junts has held the presidency of the majority of regional councils in Catalonia, having ousted ERC (Republican Socialist Workers' Party) from the previous term (see map). This ensures a good level of representation, but in practical terms, very little political execution. Of the total of 40 regional councils, Junts governs 18 (previously it had 16), ERC 15 (previously 18), and the PSC 7 (up from 6). This is the result of constant pacts between political forces.
Do the US really have political capacity?
But with very limited funding and narrowly focused powers, county councils have very little room to implement their own policies. One example is the difficulty many governments have in moving forward with European projects once funding from Brussels runs out. However, the populations of many county councils, such as La Selva, have grown in recent years while the resources provided by the Generalitat (Catalan Government) have been maintained. Furthermore, new powers were created, such as fire prevention, which were not allocated.
What tasks do they perform?
The main task of the regional councils is to execute the powers assigned to them by the Generalitat (Generalitat) and, in some cases, by the provincial councils. Since the economic crisis, many local governments have ended up pooling services, such as architectural services, through the regional councils due to a lack of funding. This also generates more administrative work and workload, which is difficult to complete if there is an endemic problem of vacancies in the workforce.
What is the difference with the provincial councils?
The provincial councils are a state administration, while the regional councils are under the jurisdiction of the Generalitat (Generalitat). This is where the main difference in powers lies. Various presidents believe that this creates duplication and that reform is necessary, embracing the veguerías model.
