Unannounced and private: Isla's first meeting with a PP president

BarcelonaThe regional tour that Salvador Illa promised for to educate about the new Catalan financing The agreement with ERC is not serving, for the moment, to gain support for the proposal. Since January and until this Friday, the president of the Generalitat had made only two visits, to the Canary Islands and Navarre, and only the president of the latter territory had not objected to the new financing. Isla had not yet set foot in any community governed by the PP, although the PP holds a significant share of the regional power. He finally did so this Friday: the president visited Aragon and met with its president, Jorge Azcón, in a meeting that was not part of the public agenda and that took place unannounced, in private, and without cameras at 8:15 in the morning, according to ARA. This is very different from the meetings with Fernando Clavijo and María Chivite, in which they even made joint appearances before the media. This Friday's visit takes on special significance due to the enormous misgivings expressed by the PP regarding the financing model agreed with ERC.

Salvador Illa himself confirmed the meeting shortly afterward, during the economic conference he held before the Aragonese business community and institutional representatives, although he did not provide details of the meeting's content: "It's always good to talk, listen, and explain. We reviewed the issues we normally address with the autonomous communities." Isla took advantage of his conference in Zaragoza—presented by the Minister of Education and Spanish government spokesperson, Pilar Alegría—to defend the new Catalan financing. "Catalonia is not asking for any privileges, but rather proposals so that everyone can contribute the best of themselves for the benefit of all," he emphasized. The president recalled that there is a "consensus" among all the autonomous regions that the regional financing system needs to be "reviewed" and attempted to once again counter the criticism from the Popular Party leaders (and also from within the PSOE, such as the president of Castilla-La Mancha, Emiliano García Page): "Catalonia will continue to stand in solidarity with our fellow Spanish citizens."

Illa has once again contrasted the model of "shared prosperity" he defends for Catalonia with the "unsupportive accumulation" he attributes to the PP's regions, especially Isabel Díaz Ayuso's Madrid. "I want a game of eleven against eleven and for the referee to be neutral. [...] It's not fair for us to ask for more resources with one hand and implement cuts with the other," he added. Isla already defended the same idea at a conference he gave in the Spanish capital in March to business leaders. There He contrasted the Catalan economic model with Ayuso's Madrid and asked "not to be afraid of Catalonia." The Palau de la Generalitat did not include the event in the regional tour for funding. "I like to talk about things calmly and with facts," said the Catalan president a few weeks ago in an interview on RTVE to justify his No to meet with Ayuso: "I don't want to generate more noise; I prefer to work and talk more about facts than statements."

Two visits so far: the Canary Islands and Navarre

Executive sources indicate that they are preparing new meetings for the coming weeks, but they have not specified where or whether Madrid will be a destination for the president again. María Chivite—with whom Isla has met three times since becoming president of the Generalitat—is one of the few regional leaders who has not opposed the new financing model for Catalonia, because Clavijo himself publicly expressed his misgivings after the January meeting. The Canarian president, in fact, issued a warning: if Catalonia leaves the common regime, his autonomous community will oppose Catalan financing. This is one of the issues that Isla himself has refused to clarify since the Socialists signed the pact with ERC. In fact, the Republicans had maintained that as soon as the debate over reforming the Lofca (the law regulating regional financing) began, they would request to leave the common regime to develop the new financing model.

However, in January, Clavijo gave clues as to Salvador Illa's thoughts: after the meeting with the Catalan president, the Canarian leader explained that Illa had told him that the financing agreed with ERC entails "exploring the development of the Statute" and that, therefore, it would be a model "compatible" with the Constitution because Catalonia did not leave. From Navarre, and after meeting with Chivite, Isla also differentiated the Catalan model from the Navarrese regional model (outside the common regime). "Our path is different: it is the path of singular financing, not the path of Navarre. We are working on our own line," he stated.

The group of experts who must draw up a proposal to finalize the agreement for singular financing has not yet made it public. Before June 30, the Socialists and Republicans should present the details of this new system, which must be implemented so that the Catalan Tax Agency can collect personal income tax for 2025 next year.