Negotiations to reform the 30% reserve reach the moment of truth

BarcelonaThis Thursday marked one month since Jaume Collboni gave himself one. ultimatum With the reform of the 30% reserve, since the Círculo de Economía (Economy Circle) meetings, the mayor of Barcelona urged Junts and ERC to reach an agreement to modify the law. He even said at the time that he would like to approve the reform in the Urban Planning Commission that same month, a wish he was unable to fulfill. Now, however, the negotiations are entering the final stretch: conversations with Junts have multiplied, and the outcome seems imminent. If the municipal government wants to bring the 30% modification to the next Urban Planning Commission, it would have to approve it in the government commission this Thursday.

Thus, the countdown begins to find out whether or not Collboni can close a pact, which is one of his major promises of his term. Despite publicly questioning both Junts and ERC, the municipal government's negotiations have so far focused on the council members, with meetings also held between the mayor and the Junts leader at City Hall, Jordi Martí Galbis. The agreement, sources on both sides point out, is not finalized, but positions have been brought closer. To the point that this week, in an interview on Ideas Cafe From La 2 and Radio 4, Collboni opened the door to discussing the 4% reduction in property tax (IBI) demanded by Junts (Junts) to approve the 30% reform.

Taxation is one of the remaining issues on the negotiating table, in which, on behalf of the government, in addition to the mayor, the first deputy for urban planning, Laia Bonet, and the fourth deputy for economy and housing, Jordi Valls, are also participating. In the same interview, Collboni pointed to one of the requirements the municipal government is setting for lowering property tax (IBI): raising taxes on tourism. The goal is to ensure that the council's revenue does not decrease despite everything. "What I'm not going to do is weaken public revenue," Collboni emphasized. This compensation could come through the increase in the rate and the tourist surcharge that the City Council wants to promote once the decree for the new tax is approved by Parliament.

In addition to the property tax (IBI), the housing package that Junts linked to the 30% negotiation included other aspects such as the City Council demanding that Sareb transfer the 823 real estate assets it owns in the city and creating new aid, such as a municipal loan line of €3,500 per family with dependent children to cover the down payment on a rental apartment. It also called for a review of the criteria for preemption and redemption to apply criteria of "real vulnerability."

The Ministry of Public Works and the real estate sector have also played a role in the talks between the PSC and Junts, having long been pushing to reform a regulation that they blame for halting housing construction in central Barcelona. The municipal government's proposal, which is currently on the table, includes allowing 30% of social housing to be built not in the same building as it is now, but on a nearby property within the same neighborhood or in a nearby neighborhood.

ERC cools its support

If the municipal government finally reaches an agreement with the Junts group in Barcelona to reform the 30% tax, one stumbling block will still remain: the approval of the national leadership of the junts, which is constantly monitoring the progress of the talks in the Catalan capital. But there are also voices within the leadership opposed to giving Collboni a boost, whom they have not forgiven for snatching the mayor's office from Xavier Trias at the last minute with the votes of the En Comuns and the PP.

Although Junts' votes would be enough to push the measure through, Collboni has publicly insisted on including ERC among the parties with which he wants to push through the 30% tax reform. However, in recent hours, the Republicans have cooled the possibility of signing a pact that also includes Junts. The group's leader, Elisenda Alamany, did so this Thursday in a post on X in which she warned the mayor that the housing policies of ERC and Junts are "as similar as an egg and a chestnut."

The Commons, for their part, are opposed to any type of change in the regulations, as they believe that if it is not producing the expected results, it is because developers have halted construction while waiting for the Collboni government to modify the regulations.