Ayuso remains alone boycotting the Fiscal and Financial Policy Council

MadridThe Community of Madrid called for a "boycott" of the Fiscal and Financial Policy Council to prevent the financing model from being approved this Friday, which will now begin its journey in the Council of Ministers and the Congress of Deputies. If the PP communities followed suit and stood up the meeting, the meeting could not be held due to a lack of quorum, vetoing the approval of the system. However, that was not the case: the popular barons did not follow Isabel Díaz Ayuso and Madrid was left alone in absenting itself from the meeting, since the rest of the regional Finance ministers, despite having voted no to the financing system, were indeed at the meeting. That is to say, there was only one empty chair at the table presided over by the Minister of Finance, Arcadi España, with all the representatives of the autonomous communities, including Catalonia, this Friday in Madrid. Only the Madrid Finance head, Rocío Albert López-Ibor, was missing.

How did the PP autonomous communities justify their decision to attend the meeting? Before entering the Fiscal Policy Council, they argued that they had already said they would attend the meeting and that, however it is expressed, the underlying message is the same. "We all oppose the system," each of the councilors who stopped to make statements repeated. "We express respect for the Community of Madrid," said the head of Finance of Murcia, Luis Alberto Marín. "The position is the same, but we express it in a different way," added the representative of Galicia, Miguel Corgos. "We believe that there is freedom for all communities to decide [...]. We understood that we had to come here to explain why we were voting no," said the Andalusian Carolina España. Everyone, mind you, has expressed their rejection of a new model that they consider is only made to guarantee the "survival" of Pedro Sánchez.

Regarding the absence of the Community of Madrid, the Ministry of Finance, Arcadi España, regretted their absence, but dug into the differences within the PP. In his view, they are not capable of agreeing on an alternative to the new financing model because they have different interests, and that is why they decide to oppose it without entering into in-depth negotiations. "They have not accepted any of our proposals," complain, however, the PP and PSOE communities, who see that the system is already closed by the pact between the Spanish government and Esquerra.

Be that as it may, being at the meeting this Friday, the PP communities have de facto allowed the financing to be approved, because in reality they all gain more resources even if they do not agree with the criteria and show fierce political opposition to them. In fact, once it was already approved, and when they were asked if they would join the new system (they have to request it), they avoided answering. "We are just beginning the processing," assured the head of the Treasury of Andalusia, Carolina España, who was in charge of expressing the opinion of the majority of the PP autonomous communities after the meeting. Who does end up worse off with the model is the Community of Madrid, not so much with the final resources but with the penalty that the system includes for those who massively lower their own taxes, a fiscal dumping that both Esquerra and the PSOE have vowed to limit by taking advantage of the new financing reform.