The President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, will appear this Thursday from 6 p.m. in an institutional declaration to explain the government changes. With the call for elections in Andalusia on May 17, the Minister of Finance and First Vice-President, María Jesús Montero, leaves her portfolio and goes as a PSOE candidate. From here, the Spanish president has to explain who takes over Finance and who will carry out the tasks of First Vice-President. So far, sources from Moncloa have ruled out a broad government crisis, always making it clear that the final word lies with Sánchez himself.

With the departure of María Jesús Montero, the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, has opted to reinforce the political profile of the Minister of Economy, Carlos Cuerpo, as well as to recruit from outside the Ministry of Finance for the new person in charge of this portfolio. On the one hand, Cuerpo will assume the first vice-presidency. On the other, the reins of public accounts will be held by the Valencian Arcadi España, current Secretary of State for Territorial Policy. The changes were communicated by Sánchez himself this Thursday afternoon in an institutional declaration from Moncloa. The government loses the parity it had until now: there will be 12 male ministers and 10 female ministers.

At yesterday's meeting between Vice President Montero and the finance ministers of all the autonomous communities, we heard yet another of those phrases that will go down in the anthology of what used to be called anti-Catalanism and is now more accurately described as Catalanophobia. The honor belongs to the finance minister of Andalusia, Carolina España:

"Caviar for Catalans and a set menu for the rest of Spain." PP councilors appeared indignant outside the Ministry of Finance, railing against the proposed new financing model which, they claim, only grants "privileges" to Catalans. parade of statements This shows that it will not be easy for the Spanish government to implement the new model in which, according to regional PP leaders, Oriol Junqueras decides where the resources of the people of Murcia, Extremadura, Madrid, Andalusia, etc., go. However, the Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero, has reserved a point for the Fiscal and Financial Policy Council: has offered to the communities that, if they find the new financing model so unfair (even though they all gain slightly more than now), they can opt out and remain under the current system. That is, it will be voluntary. Although this was also the case in 2009, Montero's statement this Wednesday is a challenge to the PP.

When Esquerra and the PSC sealed the investiture agreement to elect Salvador Illa president of the Generalitat, the Republicans asserted that the pact required unique financing—they dubbed it a "solidarity economic agreement"—and Catalonia's withdrawal from the common system of autonomous communities. However, the matter is now in the hands of the State, with whom Esquerra has also negotiated in recent weeks, and for now, the Spanish government is resisting allowing Catalan finances to be withdrawn from the Lofca (Spanish Socialist Workers' Union). This was stated on Sunday by the Vice President of the Spanish Government and Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero. in an interview in The Mail of Andalusia, the region in which she herself will run as a candidate in next year's regional elections. However, Esquerra maintains that the Spanish government must comply with the signed agreement, which "is very close to an economic agreement," according to ERC spokesperson Isaac Albert on Monday.