Vox returns to Parliament the money from bills for meals with high-proof alcohol

The expenses that the groups pass to the Parliament are once again in the spotlight. A year and a half ago, the chamber already had to change the criteria to avoid a lack of control and for groups to use them to pay extra salaries to deputies, as Vox had done. Now, a report from the chamber's auditor on group expenses during 2024 is once again causing a stir. According to what Vilaweb has reported and the ACN has confirmed, the document censures that the far-right party paid for a meal with deputies and advisors of the group organized in 2024 with Parliament money, which amounted to €2,605, with an expense of up to €184 on high-proof alcoholic beverages, and which the party has already fully reimbursed. Junts also comes out singed: the auditor questions the expenses for travel, meals, and organization of a working day in Belgium with 60 people that cost around €47,500. This is not the first time Vox has been in the eye of the storm for incorrect expenses. Its leader in Parliament, Ignacio Garriga, already had to return €380 in personal expenses, such as AMPA fees. At the time, he maintained that he had submitted the invoice to the Catalan chamber by "mistake." In a statement this Thursday, the far-right party assured that it has already paid the chamber for both the meal and the expenses of an event on agriculture in Lleida – costing around €5,000 – because the auditor informed them that they "could exceed" the activities attributable to the parliamentary group. Sources from Vox assure that they returned the money before the auditor's report was made public. In the case of Junts, what the auditor questions is the "proportionality" in the expense of the days in Belgium, where the party's leader, Carles Puigdemont, is still in exile. There were deputies from the group during the last legislature, but also advisors and staff hired by the formation. In this case, the party has not returned anything nor has it commented on the issue. The PP and "gifts"

In the report, the auditor also censures that the PP, with the subsidy money from the group, paid for "Christmas gifts" worth €1,900 to 30 people, including deputies, group staff, party officials, and parliamentary group collaborators. "They do not find a legal basis because it is a businessman's gratuity that cannot be assumed by a public administration," the report states, citing a Constitutional Court ruling that concludes this. Another of the elements scrutinized is the amount of money that each group passes directly to the political party from the subsidies they receive for parliamentary activity. This is a permitted purpose, but the auditor also raises the possibility of establishing a "maximum limit" for these contributions. It should be noted that in 2024, changes were made to the system of resource allocation to parties so that the Generalitat – not the chamber – would assume part of the expense of subsidies to political organizations, with an annual budget of 9 million euros. In 2024, three groups allocated more than 99% of their subsidy to the party: Comuns, CUP, and PSC. Vox and Aliança Catalana, on the other hand, did not transfer anything. According to the report, as reported by the ACN, Aliança has not spent any of the €33,572 subsidy it received in its first year of parliamentary activity, after winning two seats in Parliament.