Territori confirms that the 50% discount on the T-Jove will be maintained, but leaves the rest up in the air.

BarcelonaLess than a month remains before the new public transport fares come into effect, and at the moment, only one discount is guaranteed: that of the T-Joven (Youth Card), which will maintain its 50% discount, fully funded by the central government. The rest will depend on negotiations between the Catalan government and the Ministry of Transport, and on the percentage of the discount the Ministry offers to finance. This was confirmed on Tuesday by the Minister of Territory and spokesperson for the Catalan government, Silvia Paneque, at a press conference following the executive council meeting. "This is a dialogue that always takes place at the end of the year. We will wait and must have it finalized before December 31st," Paneque said. Meanwhile, the ERC (Republican Left of Catalonia) and Comuns (Commons) parties are already pressuring the Catalan government, asking it to maintain the current 50% discount—30% of which is covered by the central government, and the remainder by regional and local administrations.

So, what is the Government's position regarding transport fares? Paneque explained that her department supports updating prices based on the CPI (Consumer Price Index) to guarantee the system's financial sustainability. What users pay currently represents a third of the total cost of public transport. In fact, this Tuesday the executive approved financing agreements with public administrations and program contracts with private and public transport operators worth 106.9 million euros "to cover the system's operating and functional needs," added sources from the Department of Territory.

At the same time, the Government is in favor of maintaining discounts for certain groups, such as young people and the unemployed. "We must see, within this co-financing model with the Ministry, what decision we make," the Minister stated. It should be noted that the Generalitat (Valencian Government) is under scrutiny from the Treasury for having exceeded the spending rule limit. something that limits the Government's margin of decision on this point. For all these reasons, Paneque has urged a "reflection" on the need to guarantee the sustainability of the system if better public transport with more frequent service is desired.

Political negotiation

Despite the Catalan government's insistence that the outcome of the negotiations depends on the Ministry of Transport, both ERC and Comuns, Salvador Illa's investiture partners, have already warned that maintaining the fare reductions will be a demand they will put on the executive's table. Comuns will meet with Paneque this Friday to discuss it. Furthermore, at a press conference, the leader of Comuns in the Catalan Parliament, Jéssica Albiach, stated that this will be a red line for her group to sit down and negotiate the budget. "If the government raises fares, they shouldn't even bother calling us," she emphasized. —reports Roger PalósThis condition is in addition to those already announced by Albiach's group for negotiations: that the Government begin to sanction violations of the housing law—it has 30 cases pending against owners who have exceeded the legal limit, but no fines have been issued—or implement the registry of large property owners, postponed in December. In any case, what is currently conditioning the start of the negotiation schedule is regional funding, the condition set by ERC for also sitting down to negotiate. The Treasury will not make a proposal until January or February.This means Catalonia will begin the year with an extended budget. Beyond the issue of special financing, the Republicans intend to defend the reduction in transport fares in the Catalan Parliament. As explained this Monday by the party's spokesperson, Isaac Albert, Esquerra will present a question in the chamber demanding that the Socialists maintain the reduced fares for the T-Usual and T-Joven travel cards and the free T-16. Last year, the reduction in transport fares sparked one of the first major clashes between the Spanish government and Junts. The council members overturned the omnibus decree that applied these discountsAnother deal had to be renegotiated, postponing the discounts for a few days.