Moreno makes requesting Cercanías subject to the injection of 6,000 million from the State

The Andalusian Parliament demanded this Thursday the complete transfer of the State Cercanías service to the Board. At the last minute, Juanma Moreno's PP supported two resolutions presented by the left for Andalusia to request the powers, with the intention of portraying the PSOE and fighting the “battle” over the “grievance” with Catalonia. However, this transfer, which had been ruled out until now by both Andalusia and the majority of the communities, is subject to an injection of 6,000 million euros, the same amount that Pedro Sánchez has agreed with ERC before completing the transfer of the service..

Sources from San Telmo clarify that the Board would only accept this transfer if the State guaranteed significant financing to improve the state of the network, as they have been demanding for years.. In the case of Catalonia, the Government has committed a million-dollar investment in the Rodalies to end up being managed by the Generalitat. “If you guarantee us the 6,000 million euros that you are going to give to Catalonia to take over the Cercanías, I will sign it tomorrow morning,” said the Andalusian president, Juanma Moreno, during the debate on the state of the community..

The PP supported two resolution proposals that raised the claim of the service, contemplated in the statute of autonomy. The first, from Por Andalucía, asked to convene the Joint Transfer Commission to demand from the State the “comprehensive transfer” of the service “throughout the legislature.”. Despite the vote in favor from the party, the sources consulted conclude that the request for this call is not on the agenda of the autonomous government, at least “for the moment”.

As they explain, the objective of the PP was to portray the PSOE in the vote of the autonomous Chamber and demonstrate that “it denies in Andalusia what it gives to Catalonia”. The vote in favor of the PP disconcerted the Andalusian socialists, who abstained and, at the end of the session, did not offer details about their decision.. Later, the socialists would send a statement asking for “rigor” from Moreno, who has not “formally” requested the transfer and now “votes in favor blindly and without giving information about it.”.

The Andalusian president worked hard in the debate on the state of the community, where every year he takes stock of his management and resolutions are proposed to urge the Andalusian and Spanish governments to apply them.. During the more than ten hours that the two sessions lasted, Moreno recognized the problems of Andalusian healthcare and defended his measures, after months in which the opposition had been demanding a monographic debate dedicated to this matter..

The president presented the “Andalusian way” as a government model based on reaching pacts with other parties and wanted to showcase the “spirit of Doñana” in the debate on the resolutions, accepting more than 30 proposals from the opposition.. Among them were those who requested the transfer of the trains, which meant a change of position in the PP with respect to what was defended until now in San Telmo.. The Board has been demanding management of the intercity, although it only intended to set “decent” schedules and frequencies. Like most communities, it had ruled out requesting the comprehensive transfer of the Cercanías trains as it is a service that has a significant investment deficit..

The position has not changed, “for the moment”, unless the State commits prior financing like Catalonia. Sources from the Department of Development recall that, with the more than 6,000 million that have been agreed with the pro-independence parties, the Mediterranean corridor could be promoted in its coastal section, Almería-Granada, and in its central section Algeciras-Bobadilla-Antequera; undertake new investments in high speed; or the Motril-Granada railway connection, the Costa del Sol coastal train, among other infrastructures. From the Andalusian Government, which has been demanding a revision of the Andalusian railway map, they promise to fight the “battle” so that “the General State Budgets do not finish consummating the insult to our land”.

The Andalusian PSOE, after its abstention, sent a statement to urge the Board to claim powers, although it asked to justify that request “with all the information” in the regional parliament.. The previous Minister of Development, Marifrán Carazo, has already raised the possibility of requesting some powers to expand frequencies between capitals through these concessions.. There is currently a feasibility study underway, not yet completed..