Catalan economists are currently more concerned about infrastructure than fiscal deficit, according to the winter 2026 Economic Situation Survey by the College of Economists of Catalonia. Problems in the functioning of Rodalies, the derailment that occurred on line R-1 at the beginning of the year, and the fatal accident on R-4 have led to a 13-point increase in the proportion of professionals who warn of the situation and consider it a priority issue to address. This is the opinion of 45.1% of respondents, above the 44.6% for the fiscal deficit with the State, which until now was the main concern of this professional group and has now moved to second place.

There are underlying shifts. Typically, Catalan civil society is critical from behind the scenes, yet polite and pragmatic in its approach to political power. But this seems to be changing somewhat. In some meetings and gatherings, business representatives are calling for action, for a certain mobilization to overcome challenges such as mobility (commuter rail, for example), the green transition, and reducing administrative bureaucracy. Some are a bit tired of always trying to please everyone and are demanding that politicians work more for the country's interests and less for those of their own party or some of its leaders.

Catalonia contributed €77.742 billion to the state coffers in 2022 (19.3% of the total for all autonomous communities) and received €56.650 billion (14% of the total). This means that Catalonia's fiscal deficit was €21.092 billion. These figures come from the latest fiscal balances calculated by the Generalitat (Catalan government), which ARA has accessed, and which will be made public this Friday as soon as the government approves the draft budget for 2026. Catalonia's fiscal deficit stood at 8.2% of GDP, roughly in line with the average since 1986 (8.1%). Each Catalan, therefore, contributed €2,670 more than they received.

ARA has obtained access to the Catalan government's official calculations on the fiscal deficit for 2022, and the conclusion is that while there is a slight decrease compared to the 2021 figures, it is clear that this is a structural problem in the relationship between Catalonia and the Spanish public sector. In 2022, the difference between what Catalonia contributed to the Spanish state coffers and what the state returned in the form of investments and public policies amounted to €21.092 billion, a figure equivalent to 8.2% of Catalan GDP. The previous year, the fiscal deficit calculated using the monetary flow method was €22.013 billion, or 9.6% of GDP. In one year, the difference was reduced by approximately €1 billion and slightly more than one percentage point of GDP.

Last Tuesday, President Illa, interviewed on TV3, commented on the regional financing agreement reached between the central government and ERC in the following terms: "Is it a good agreement for Catalonia? No, it's excellent!"

What has happened to us in recent weeks, from the announcement of a new regional financing model to the commuter rail collapse that will last, at the very least, throughout this year? The short answer is: we have suffered from a large fiscal deficit and poor regional funding. We are paying more attention.

On June 25, at the NATO summit in The Hague, all member states unanimously agreed to "commit to investing 5% of GDP annually in basic defense needs, as well as in defense and security-related expenditures, by 2035.".

The Spanish government has invested, on average, twice as much money per Madrilenian as per Catalan since Pedro Sánchez took office. The State has maintained the trend already experienced by the PP executives of allocating more money than planned in the budget to the Spanish capital and, conversely, leaving a large part of the investment allocation for Catalonia unfulfilled, resulting in a notable disparity in the funds that the socialist executive has allocated to both territories since mid-2018.

The Spanish government has increased its average real investment in Catalonia by approximately €158.9 million annually since Pedro Sánchez took office, compared to the period under Mariano Rajoy. This increase is due, in part, to the rise in investment in Catalonia that appears in the general state budget since Sánchez took office. In fact, the fact that the total budgeted investment has grown more than the total investment actually invested means that the current government's execution rate is significantly lower than that of the previous PP administration.

These are hot days as far as Cercanías and also Media Distancia are concerned. But there is no immediate remedy for this, because it is not a consequence of stupidity, but of a model of national construction in Spain expressed with the infrastructure policy. A model established for centuries, which we discussed at length in Spain, capital ParisThis model was challenged by the independence process, which was dismantled by the incompetence of the protagonists in the autonomous institutions and the determination of those who opposed it from the Spanish institutions. In the Process, not in the model. But shedding tears over milk already spilled is only an exercise in melancholy that helps neither the person who does it nor the person who receives it. The infrastructures will remain as they are, because politics will continue to be the same; those who decide know that all this mess has not had and will not have electoral sanction. Identity weighs more. And in a couple of decades it will be talked about again, if at all.

The Catalan government estimates that Catalonia's fiscal deficit in 2019 was €20.2bn, the equivalent of 8.5% of Catalan gross domestic product (GDP), according to calculations by the Catalan Department of Economy and Finance. The data shows a deepening of the Catalan fiscal deficit compared to the last published figures, from 2016, when the deficit was €17bn and was equivalent to 8% of GDP.