Catalonia, in the hands of the PSOE

BarcelonaIf there is one thing that defines the budget agreement between ERC and the PSC it is that its fulfillment will basically depend on the Spanish government. Specifically, on the PSOE continuing in La Moncloa. The orbital train line, which should be financed by the corresponding ministry; the investment consortium so that Catalonia has decision-making capacity; the change of statutes in the Zona Franca Consortium; the co-management of airports and, obviously, the transfer of IRPF or the approval of a new regional financing model.

The Catalan socialists would have preferred not to have to involve the PSOE in the negotiation and limit it to a classic budgetary agreement. But a few more million for health, education or the protection of the Catalan language were not enough of a banner for ERC to present itself as a demanding partner. The final agreement, in fact, also has numerous internal detractors who consider it insufficient, as the republican leadership has been able to verify in recent days, especially at the national council last Monday. Oriol Junqueras sought "sovereignty gains", or at least commitments in this regard, and to obtain them, it was essential to involve Pedro Sánchez's government.

Far from that Junqueras prior to the referendum who vehemently assured that "negotiating with the Spanish state makes no sense because it always fails to comply with all the agreements it reaches". The strategy followed for years by the new pragmatic Esquerra is to demonstrate its usefulness by reaching agreements that improve Catalan autonomy. Gradual improvements to prevent the Generalitat from stagnating, assuming that the independence project of breaking with the State is not an option, at least for now.

Cessions of sovereignty

And what have they achieved so far? The PSOE has shown that it is not willing to cede sovereignty completely. At most, to share it. And this is where mixed companies and co-management bodies come in. At some point, Rodalies should be jointly governed by the Generalitat and the State, and perhaps one day there will be a tax consortium like the one the un-cut Statute points to. But the longer it takes for the theoretically positive effects of this collaboration to be seen, the harder it will be for ERC to justify the strategy. With Junts, the relationship was more or less the same, before the Junts members decided to break stable relations with La Moncloa: even in the case of delegating powers in immigration, there was fine print, which gave the State the final say.

"The PSOE does not act, the PSOE is forced to act," the leader of the Republicans in Madrid, Gabriel Rufián, often continues to say, although he does not hide that, in an "exceptional" moment like the current one, his Esquerra must be in the PSOE's trench fighting the rise of the PP and Vox. The Spanish government is dragging its feet to comply with agreements signed by the PSC — and validated when necessary in the Bilateral Commission — but everything will go up in smoke if there is a change of government in the State. With PP and Vox (or with PP alone), pacts with the Generalitat will be little more than a wet paper.

The week's details

With the work done, the Minister of Economy

removed a great weight from her shoulders on Friday. The budgets are already in Parliament and the Government has the necessary support tied up to approve them in a few weeks. Alícia Romero can breathe easy, and this weekend she celebrated it by taking her daughters to the Bad Bunny concert in Barcelona. In the end, ERC and Comuns have behaved nicely.

ERC and the PSC have resurrected the orbital train line for the budgets. To become a reality by 2040, it will still have to overcome many obstacles and, so that they get used to it, the weather gave them their first scare on Monday. At the presentation, in Sant Sadurní d’Anoia, it was raining and thundering so much that it was difficult to follow the speeches and, as soon as they finished, the lights went out.