Now it turns out that not only the AVE (High Speed Train) is radial. The Cercanías (Commuter Trains) also have a departure and arrival point at km 0 of Puerta del Sol, if we take into account the refusal of Renfe's workers' unions to comply with the transfer agreement between the Generalitat (Catalan Government) and the State. This is yet another example of the defense of a Jacobin model of public service disguised as a demand for social rights that have never been in question. The Spain of the autonomous state does not resonate with the polycentric mentality that prevails in other composite states or in the EU itself. The centripetal drive of the political and economic elites of Spain with a Castilian-Andalusian matrix, and the definitive consolidation of Madrid, do not allow even Barcelona to be the Frankfurt or Milan of Spain. The dream of many federalists is buried, as is the tacit pact referred to by Antoni de Capmany in the Cortes of Cádiz, whereby Castile had to conduct politics while Catalonia was allowed to conduct business.
From the outset, you'll forgive me if I say it's not entirely clear what the railway unions are doing by mediating the terms of a transfer agreement formalized between two governments, which, as required, includes an inventory of assets and sets the material, economic, and even personnel resources to be transferred. Thanks to their leverage, especially the threat of a strike on an already deplorable service, the move has been made from a newly created joint venture, conceived because the Generalitat (Catalan government) currently lacks the necessary conditions to assume the role of operator, to a company that will continue, albeit temporarily, within the Renfe group. The majority union, CSIF, has gone further and even said that the agreement amounts to "giving away the Cercanías (local railways) to the Generalitat (Catalan government) for a political agreement." Of course, may Santa Lucía retain its sights for many years to come. What else do governments do? Or is there a natural order that requires the Cercanías (local railways) to remain in the clumsy hands of the State?
There was a time, by the way, when the complaints were the other way around. I remember the swearing from when the Pujol government recruited officers from the National Police and the Civil Guard to lead the Mossos d'Esquadra force. The first chief of the Mossos d'Esquadra, Joan Unió, and some of the force's commanders came from the National Police. But now the opposite is the norm. A few months ago we were analyzing On those same pages, we read how the agreement by which the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) were to assume citizen security responsibilities at El Prat Airport, decided by the previous government within the framework of the Security Board, was actually postponed due to the reluctance of Spanish police unions. Later, in response to complaints from some political parties, the current government reversed itself, after publicly claiming that there were not enough officers to take on the challenge. It has finally agreed. The recent agreement on the delegation of executive functions in immigration matters also addresses this issue and even provides for the Mossos' collaboration in border control.
The days when civil servants and state workers were delighted to be transferred to the Generalitat are also long gone. I don't know if it's a loss of prestige. Or perhaps it's that the political context and the extreme polarization of the territorial debate in recent years haven't helped. I don't know. What I do know is that, to give just a few examples, with Royal Decree 3482/1983, of December 28, the state prison services were transferred without any particular difficulties. Emblematic. The Joint Commission established the transfer of personnel, and nothing happened here. With Royal Decree 391/1998, of March 13, the traffic and motor vehicle circulation services transferred by Organic Law 6/1997 post-Majestic were transferred, and some Civil Guards, around two hundred, joined the force, although some took the transfer to the Supreme Court. Finally, Royal Decree 206/2010, of 26 February, transferred the Labour and Social Security Inspection, reminiscent of the case of the Cercanías (Commuter Trains) trains, as it initially led to the creation of a consortium with the State. The Generalitat only had jurisdiction over labour matters, not over Social Security, and administrative and citizen services were shared.
But, without a doubt, one of the most regrettable episodes is the relocation of the Telecommunications Market Commission to Barcelona. The Supreme Court even annulled Royal Decree 2397/2004, of December 30, which moved the headquarters from Madrid to Barcelona, considering that this decision by the central government, preceded by an agreement in July of the same year between José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and Pasqual Maragall, was based on simple political expediency! The result is that all constitutional bodies and regulators remain in Madrid. And it takes us more than three hours to travel from Barcelona to Valencia...
