The regional presidents end the year denouncing the "privileges" of Catalonia

MadridThe New Year's Eve speeches of the regional presidents had two main common denominators: housing and financing. In the first case, they boasted about the measures they had implemented to address the primary concern of Spaniards. And in the second, they criticized the future special financing that ERC and the PSOE are finalizingOne of the most significant voices has been that of Emiliano García-Page, the baron The socialist most critical of Pedro Sánchez, and who has been very harsh on the PSOE's alliance with Catalan separatism—in fact, he challenged the amnesty in the Constitutional Court—made veiled—or perhaps not so veiled—remarks directed at Madrid and Barcelona throughout his speech. He did not utter the words financing neither CataloniaBut his message was perfectly clear when he warned that he will fight back: "We will combat any attempt at privileges that harm us." Page has warned that Castilla-La Mancha "doesn't demand more, but it won't accept less," which is the same expression used by Jorge Azcón, the president of Aragon: "We don't ask to be more than anyone else, but we won't tolerate being treated worse than other Spaniards." For Azcón, who called early elections for February 8th, "any other premise" would constitute an "attack" on the principle of equality and on Aragon's "dignity and autonomy." "Aragon needs to be treated fairly; we need a regional financing model that doesn't privilege other communities," he demanded. The president of Aragon also expressed his "dream" that in the "coming months" Sijena will recover the paintings currently exhibited at the MNAC: "It's a matter of justice," he stressed. Azcón wants the new financing system to take into account depopulation, aging, and topography, while, from the Balearic Islands, on New Year's Eve, Marga Prohens asked that it consider their island reality. On New Year's Eve, she demanded a new financing system negotiated with all the autonomous communities and "not just with the usual suspects"—referring to Catalonia—and took the opportunity to criticize the cases of alleged corruption and sexual harassment affecting the PSOE: "It's the worst side of politics, it shames us all and it should shame us all."

The President of Cantabria, María José Sáenz de Buruaga, delivered the speech on December 24th and also sent a message to the Spanish government: "To move faster and go further, we need a national government that respects the people of Cantabria and doesn't take what is rightfully ours to repay favors to the independence movement."

"Coherence" and "honesty"

Emiliano García-Page has also cast a sideways glance at the Moncloa Palace. Without mentioning Pedro Sánchez by name, he staunchly defended "coherence" as a "prerequisite" for "honesty." "That coherence or common sense is news is a symptom we must eradicate," lamented the president of Castilla-La Mancha. He made a direct appeal to "demand" that politicians be "honest" in "their decisions, actions, and personal attitudes." "Being self-critical and knowing what needs correcting is probably the most beautiful and useful thing we can do," he added. Page believes that a "divided" Spain is "by design" and a "consequence" of people who seek "confrontation" and "tension" to "hide their shortcomings and problems." "We Spaniards don't deserve to be forced to take sides every day," he added. He also believes that society is "politically neurotic" and calls for "avoiding populism."

"Empathy" with the victims of the DANA storm

The new president of the Valencian Community, Juanfran Pérez Llorca, who delivered his speech from Utiel, a town hit by the recent storm, limited himself to advocating for "working through dialogue and consensus" and "demanding, from a position of unity," the reform of regional financing. In a speech combining Catalan and Spanish, and without any reference—either explicit or implicit—to Carlos Mazón, he reiterated his "empathy, affection, and concern" for the families of the victims of the October 29th tragedy, and emphasized that the reconstruction "continues, speaking out because it comes to the fear of going through the fear of going through the fear of going through the fear of what happens with the government, the fear of rain."

Budgets and tension

Finally, the president of Galicia, Alfonso Rueda, avoided making any references to regional funding, but took a swipe at Sánchez for the inability to pass a new budget: "Governments aren't meant to entertain, much less to provoke outrage. That's why we're predictable, and the budget will come into effect tomorrow, as it should." And the president of Murcia, Fernando López Miras, lamented the excessive "political noise" that currently exists: "Polarization has taken root in the public debate, but we can't normalize it. Too much confrontation, too much tension, and too many arguments that don't solve people's real problems."