First entanglement between the barons of the PP for the removal of the debt: a block with Valencia, another with Galicia and Madrid in the middle

Unable to resolve the crossroads of the regional financing model in the last legislature, the acting Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero, has once again put on the table an issue that has already brought the Government into conflict with the main socialist barons. But Montero is now recovering it in the middle of the debate on the negotiations for the possible investiture of Pedro Sánchez, with which the reform of a system that has expired since 2014 appears inevitably linked to a hypothetical cancellation or removal of the debt of Catalonia. However, the ordeal that the Madrid president has launched rejecting any transfer to the independentistas has just opened the first crack between the barons of the PP, on the new game board left by the last regional and general elections.

The Government of Isabel Díaz Ayuso opposes the State being able to forgive the debt of Catalonia and any other community. It would be an “aberration”, as they pointed out to EL MUNDO. Along the same lines, the Galician Minister of Finance, the also popular Miguel Corgos, warned yesterday that what is actually being considered is a mutualization of the debt: “That is, to distribute the debt of some autonomous communities that it is estimated will They are too indebted between all of them”. Forgiveness, therefore, would be an “inequitable” measure.

But the new Valencian government chaired by Carlos Mazón not only does not share this argument, but also defends negotiating a “multilateral and responsible” solution to the problem of regional debt in the Fiscal and Financial Policy Council (CPFF), where those responsible sit of the Ministry and the different ministries of Finance. With a good part of the communities in the hands of the PP, this party would now have a majority in the coordinating body on financial matters. Now, the popular is far from being a compact block.

When asked about the Valencian position, Mazón yesterday avoided talking about forgiveness so as not to enter into a direct clash with Madrid, although he was clear when demanding “compensation” for the debt. The Generalitat is not closed to a reduction or restructuring of the debt, since the Valencian PP always accepted the conclusions of the experts who estimate the debt directly linked to the underfinancing generated by an expired model at 70%. At present, the public debt of the Generalitat exceeds 55,000 million euros and, although the PP attributes a part to the management of Ximo Puig, Mazón insisted yesterday on the “exceptionality” of the Valencian case.

In fact, the Valencian PP flagged the improvement of regional financing from the opposition. Mazón always blamed Sánchez for not attending to Valencian interests, which advocate a distribution of money based on population criteria. Andalusia and Murcia are also on this side, the other communities most affected by the current model, compared to regions such as Galicia that claim to assess other criteria such as population dispersion.

The former president of the Generalitat Ximo Puig came to ally with Juanma Moreno to break the block policy and reactivate the financing debate. It was a pulse to his party. The Valencian socialists, by the way, yesterday demanded that Mazón “clarify if he is with Ayuso against the Valencians”, while Compromís criticized his “submission” to Madrid.

But while Galicia shows its “concern” about this possible forgiveness of the regional debt, Mazón also focused on the pacts “in the dark room of separatism”. In this sense, Valencia rejects the bilateral negotiation with the State that Catalonia is demanding, as is Andalusia.

This community has spent years demanding a reform of the regional financing model that eliminates the current imbalances. But Montero's announcement to reactivate the negotiation, just when the support of Catalan separatism for the investiture of Pedro Sánchez is at stake, has set off all the alarms of the Andalusian government, which fears that an adequate political framework is being sought to disguise a new transfer of “benefits” to some communities such as Catalonia.

The Minister of Economy, Finance and European Funds, Carolina España, warned this Tuesday that it is not possible to undertake this negotiation “with a government in office”. The counselor agrees that the reform of the financing system “is urgent”, but “it must be done by consensus and thinking about the common good of all Spaniards, wherever they live, not looking for an oxygen tank for a project of losers, like that of the PSOE”, he affirmed in a statement collected by Europa Press.

Spain recalled that Montero, when he landed in the Sánchez government in 2018, indefinitely postponed the negotiation. The Board recalls that the current model was agreed upon by the socialist government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero with ERC. With it, the community has stopped earning about 1,000 million a year than it would have received per population.