Feijóo warns Catalans that Sánchez is "deceiving" them about funding

BarcelonaAlberto Núñez Feijóo has kicked off the political year in Catalonia by convening the national leadership to confront the The PP has an electoral black hole.But he is vehemently waving the flag of rejection of the new financing. With a surprising approach, the Popular Party leader has warned Catalans that the new model is a "rip-off" and, at the same time, declared that all Spaniards will have to pay for it with a "fiscal hell." A difficult balance to strike, amidst an operation to seduce Catalans that has been applauded by the top brass of the Catalan and national PP. The Galician leader finished with an allusion to Catalan independence: "It is unacceptable that Pedro Sánchez has reinstated Mr. Junqueras as shadow finance minister," he said from Barcelona.

Just minutes later, Feijóo first issued a warning: "They shouldn't play with people's resources [...] Spaniards are not the cash register Sánchez uses to pay for his stay in La Moncloa," he said. And he went even further: "The new model will not be fair or lasting if we don't all approve it. I oppose a model that seeks to institutionalize a fiscal hell," he declared. But suddenly, he said the model is a sham and cannot be implemented: "It's disrespectful to the Catalans; they're being taken for a ride and offered what they can't afford," he blurted out. The argument he had been making is that it cannot be financed without a tax increase in the rest of Spain.

The response came from Madrid. After meeting with the Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Spanish President, Pedro Sánchez, defended the reform of the financing model, emphasizing that it is the largest increase in resources ever allocated to the autonomous communities. He stated that it represents an extra 21 billion euros for the autonomous communities, provided by the central government, which is foregoing other public policies. "We want them to benefit from the welfare state, which is managed by the autonomous communities," he said. In this regard, and when explicitly asked about Junts' support in Congress, the Spanish president urged all political forces to support the model, especially the Popular Party, which holds regional responsibilities: "Put aside ideological disputes and think about the citizens," he said.Núria Orriols Guiu reports.

Complex argumentation

The Popular Party leader contrasted the new model with the "common good" and "the needs of the people," which he promised to guarantee, and stressed that the Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez, "conditions funding on his personal well-being in La Moncloa." For this reason, he strongly criticized the pact between Sánchez and Junqueras, whom he respectively labeled the head of the party of "illegal commissions" and "convicted of embezzlement." Feijóo made no mention of the fact that all the autonomous communities would gain resources with the new model, especially Andalusia, governed by the PP, nor of his party's support for the Basque and Navarrese economic agreements, both enshrined in the Constitution.

From Catalonia, Feijóo wanted to present fifteen housing measures to address an issue that the PP had relegated to the back burner last year and now wants to revisit. as reported by the ARAThe leader of the People's Party (PP) emphasized that the state is short one million homes and that the next legislature will work to address this with his liberal-conservative approach. The PP's plan involves eliminating bureaucratic obstacles; implementing a housing development plan to reduce construction time from ten to four years; increasing funding for the autonomous communities without "threatening" them and "rewarding" those that build more housing; and lowering the VAT rate from 10% to 4% for young people buying new homes.