Illa pledges to work hard with Junts and ERC on funding and amnesty

BarcelonaThe last question time session of the year, before the Catalan president's appearance this Wednesday to address the handling of the swine fever outbreak, was marked by demands from the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) regarding funding and a reminder from Together for Catalonia (Junts) that the amnesty remains unimplemented in Spain for numerous pro-independence leaders—in addition to a motion to reject the entirety of the proposed legislation. In response to these two demands, Prime Minister Salvador Illa pledged to "work tirelessly" to secure the necessary funding next year, and also expressed his firm desire for it to be the year of an "effective" amnesty. "We are working relentlessly. Things will go well," he said regarding the funding. When asked about the judicial amnesty surrounding the Catalan independence process, he also wanted to be emphatic: "I want the amnesty to be effective in 2026. If that happens, we will have all taken a step forward together," he declared.

However, he has also had his share of disagreements with the PP over the handling of the DGAIA scandal, and has recommended that the leader of Aliança Catalana, Sílvia Orriols, read Paco Candel's book. The other Catalansand lashed out at Vox for linking the collapse of health services to immigration:What an abutere tandem, our patience"Mr. Garriga?" he said in Latin, echoing Cicero to criticize Ignacio Garriga's alleged abuse of patience.

Forceful criticism

The leader of the main opposition group, Mònica Sales, a member of the Catalan Parliament, gave a scathing assessment of the Catalan Socialists' government's performance. However, she also highlighted the gains made by the Catalan Socialists in Madrid and reiterated their offer to work with the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) to rebuild "pro-independence unity" and capitalize more on the country's "weakness." The pro-independence leader asserted that the government "promises a lot and delivers little" and that it "has achieved nothing" of what it promised, neither in terms of funding nor commuter rail services nor in addressing any social problem, beyond "creating commissions, expert groups, and setting distant goals" in a style of governance that has amounted to "postponing." "It promised stability, and there is paralysis," she concluded.

Sales has railed against the "policies dictated by the Comuns or against Catalonia hand in hand with the PP and Vox," while boasting about initiatives in Congress such as the one concerning repeat offenders, which Illa acknowledged. The president, however, highlighted the construction of social housing, the record number of workers in Catalonia, and the neighborhood plan: "In 2025 we are doing things right, and in 2026 we will do them even better," he concluded, while criticizing Junts' votes in Congress, such as against the spending cap, which have "prevented Catalonia from obtaining more resources."

But it was the "triumphant assessment" that infuriated the president of the ERC group in parliament, Josep Maria Jové, who said it was "worrying that the year is ending without a budget" or "stability," but that this is happening because the financing model for the Principality is not yet finalized and that this is "the condition" for exploring it. Jové also recalled the commitment to "resolving the political conflict with the State" and "doing so through voting," another of the agreed points, before ending by asking that the government "make good on what it signed." Meanwhile, the leader of Comuns, Jéssica Albiach, again emphasized the importance of public transportation—which bonus is given again Following a pact with his party—and that the executive branch "begin to impose sanctions on those who commit rental fraud."

While CUP deputy Xavier Pellicer has pressed on the issue of corruption, which he sees as "systemic" in the 1978 regime, the PP leader, Alejandro Fernández, has put his finger on the sore spot of the DGAIA scandal regarding the management of minors and children. "They are covering up each other's shameful acts," stated Fernández, who insisted on asking "what are they afraid will be discovered?" Isla, visibly annoyed, again acknowledged the "administrative errors" inherited from the previous administration and appealed to the PP leader: "If you have evidence, do what you must do; enough with the insinuations," he said. In any case, Illa has defended the need for "a new approach" in children's policy, endorsing the executive's shift under Minister Mònica Martínez Bravo.