Podemos announces veto on transfer of immigration to the Generalitat

MadridAfter a year of negotiations, Juntos and the PSOE have reached an agreement to transfer immigration powers to the Generalitat. But what seemed like the end of the road is barely the beginning: Podemos, an essential partner, has already announced that it will veto the transfer. "It will not be done with Podemos' votes," the leader of the purple party, Ione Belarra, has guaranteed in a message to X, without too many more explanations. Podemos does not like that the PSOE has made a pact with Junts, "an anti-immigration party that competes with the Catalan far right," although the powers would be transferred to the Generalitat, currently in the hands of Salvador Illa's PSC. "What is urgent in our country is that it is approved the regularization ILP, who has been waiting for a year," Belarra added in reference to the proposal being processed in Congress that calls for "regularizing foreigners who were in Spanish territory before November 1, 2021."

"I don't know with what votes the PSOE intends to push through this agreement with Junts, but I can tell you that this will not be done with Podemos' votes. First, the extraordinary regularisation ILP must be approved and when Junts demonstrates that it is not racist, then Podemos will be open to debate and discuss migration competences," Bel said afterwards. The Spanish government has responded by inviting all parliamentary groups to make a "calm reading" of the bill registered this Tuesday morning by the PSOE and Junts to Congress. According to the Minister of Migration, Elma Saiz, the explanatory statement "perfectly reflects" the principles of the Spanish executive, "putting human rights at the centre", as well as a "positive" vision of immigration. In the press conference after the council of ministers, Saiz has invited people to dialogue to approve a text in which, she stressed, there is room for them to make "contributions".

Without Podemos, the law has no chance of succeeding because the numbers will not add up. Therefore, convincing the purple party will now become the main challenge. And they will not be the only votes to add. For the vote to go ahead, an absolute majority of the lower house is needed and, therefore, that also includes the rest of the investiture partners: Sumar and ERC, who have already verbalized that they are in favor, Bildu and PNV (the BNG vote would be dispensable). From Sumar, the second vice president of the Spanish government, Yolanda Díaz, has guaranteed in an interview on TVE that the agreement "is within the framework of constitutional respect and also of respect for the powers that mark the European guidelines." She also insisted that respect for human rights "is guaranteed."

Rejection by the PP and Vox

As expected, the PP did not like the transfer of immigration to the Generalitat agreed between PSOE and Junts. "It is an unprecedented humiliation," complained Alberto Núñez Feijóo in a press conference at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona. In the opinion of the PP president, it is further proof that Pedro Sánchez is "an extra" who is "put on and taken off by the independence movement of Junts." Isabel Díaz Ayuso also criticized Sánchez for agreeing on this matter with a party that the Spanish president had accused of "xenophobia" in the past. The Madrid president has stated that the increase in the number of Mossos d'Esquadra staff implies treating this autonomous police force "as if it were a new army." Vox has also spared creative efforts to describe the agreement as a "criminal pact" and a "death sentence" for the National Police and the Civil Guard.

The popular party considers that the agreement, which The members of the council are detailed in a press conference, "means deepening the inequality of Spaniards" and "continuing to dismantle the State in Catalonia" because "the powers over foreigners are exclusive to the State." The Spanish executive has argued, on the contrary, that it is a "delegation" of powers contemplated in the Constitution, which despite being "integral" and "important" is not to the detriment of the State.

What does the Government say?

While waiting for the reform to pass the process in the Cortes Generales, the Government is already preparing to assume the new powers: this Tuesday the executive council has created a working group led by the Ministry of Social Rights that will analyze the small print of the transfer to plan what resources will be needed to make it effective. The departments of the Presidency and the Interior will also be represented. This group will be the one to decide, among others, whether or not to close the CIEs in Catalonia. In any case, the president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, has guaranteed that the executive will act with "rigor" and "responsibility" in the face of the transfer: "Any advance in powers and improvement of self-government is always welcome," he said during an event this Tuesday.

The additional increase of 1,800 agents to the 25,000 announced by the Government A week ago, it will also force the Generalitat to reorganize the calendar and the calls to incorporate new agents. The minister and spokesperson for the Government, Silvia Paneque, framed this extension in the need to accompany the transfer of more resources that allow the Generalitat to assume these new functions, which it wants to exercise with the vocation of being a "land of welcome." In response to the PP, Paneque has criticized that they consider that "Spain breaks up" every time there is a transfer of powers to Catalonia and has recalled that previous Spanish executives of the PP also signed similar pacts with the Generalitat.

Parliament

In the Catalan Parliament, the PP and Vox have registered this Tuesday a request for Isla to appear to explain how she will manage the delegation of powers. In a statement, the spokesperson for the Popular parliamentary group, Juan Fernández, described this transfer as "illegal" and added that they are "seriously concerned" about the measure. In turn, the parliamentary spokesperson for Vox, Joan Garriga, criticised that the agreement "is an attack on the security" of Catalonia. Aliança Catalana also criticised the agreement, but because only "administrative powers" will be transferred. "We do not want crumbs, we want the full powers to legislate on immigration," claimed the deputy Rosa Maria Soberana. The CUP has also expressed its rejection, but for very different reasons. MP Dani Cornellà has accused Carles Puigdemont's party of demanding "the same thing" as Aliança Catalana: "If they are asking for immigration powers it is because they have bought into the framework imposed by the extreme right." On the other hand, the Comuns have said that it is "very good news" that the one-stop shop can serve to eliminate the bureaucratic excesses that worsen the lives of migrants.