The Círculo de Economía denounces the "worrying" situation in Catalonia and makes the Government ugly about the "flight of companies" with the 'procés'

Six years after 1-O Catalonia continues to suffer the impact of the hundreds of companies that decided to change their headquarters due to political instability. For this reason, the Círculo de Economía has demanded that the Generalitat create “the conditions” so that their return is “finally possible” since “it would thus be doubly positive for Catalonia”. “The most worrying thing is not only the direct impact of this exit, but also the reputational effect it entails, which penalizes Catalonia in the location of business decision-making centers”, they indicate from this entity and recall that the Catalan economy suffers from this “company flight, especially the largest ones, as a result of the 'procés'”.

For the Círculo de Economía “in recent years the evolution of the Catalan economy is worrying. For example, in 2021 the level of per capita income in real terms was very similar to that of 2000. This stagnation is even more worrying if one takes into account that during this period Catalonia has lost relative positions with respect to Spain and Europe: in 2000, per capita income in Catalonia was 24% higher than the Spanish and 20% higher than the EU average. In 2021 these percentages had been reduced to 17% and 1%, respectively”. For this reason, they denounce in the last decades “an absolute stagnation of the standard of living and a relative decline with respect to Spain and Europe. And although the figures for 2022, which have been good, and may soften these trends a bit, the underlying diagnosis does not change.

“This loss of ground in relation to our environment is also manifested in the fact that Catalonia finds it difficult to generate quality jobs. There are many young and middle-aged workers, highly qualified and wanting to progress, who cannot find a job in Catalonia that meets their aspirations,” the entity points out.. That is why they warn that the Catalan labor market “suffers from a singular dysfunction: the lack of adequacy between the supply and demand of highly qualified jobs means that many highly educated young people see their professional and life expectations frustrated or have to satisfy them abroad”. The Círculo considers that this panorama is aggravated by the “flight of companies” due to the independence process and for this reason it demands measures from the Generalitat.

“In parallel to this process of loss, effective and potent, of company headquarters, Catalonia and particularly Barcelona and its metropolitan area demonstrate a great capacity to attract technological hubs in the field of digitization. These are basically specialized centers that generate high value-added services, in sectors ranging from videogames or food to health sciences, either for parent companies or for global clients.. These hubs are installed in Barcelona due to the availability of local talent and the possibility of attracting talent from the rest of the world due to the quality of life in the city, as well as the ecosystem of research centers, universities and emerging companies with which who can collaborate”, they emphasize.

For this reason, they indicate that this commitment to Information and Communication Technologies allows the development of “great driving potential for the whole of the Catalan economy and can be a great lever to recover part of the ground lost in recent years”. The Círculo de Economía also points out that “the poor evolution of the Catalan economy has gone hand in hand with a progressive deterioration of some basic social services in Catalonia, increasingly stressed by growing demand and an evident lack of resources, both current and investment. Primary health care and public transport, especially in terms of Rodalies services, are the most flagrant cases, but not the only ones. Thus, today in Catalonia there is a significant level of discontent that threatens social cohesion and that must be faced urgently”.

The businessmen demand an “improvement of the Generalitat's financing system and a substantial increase in the effective investment of the central administration in Catalonia” to overcome “the accumulated deficit of investments and infrastructures” in the community that “are today more necessary and urgent than ever”. “This improvement in the financing of the Generalitat has to allow Catalonia to have a much more competitive tax framework,” says the entity, although it recalls that “not all evils have an external origin. There are very important deficiencies in the management of basic public policies that depend directly on the Generalitat: from the delay in the deployment of renewable energy sources (in the last ten years Catalonia has gone from being the leader to being at the bottom of the Spanish sphere) to the lack of sufficient water cycle infrastructures to overcome the episode of drought that affects us, the continued failures in professional training or the deficiencies in our educational system”

For the Círculo “there is a wide margin to improve the management of these policies. Managing better is not just a matter of technical competence. Above all, leadership is needed, because the solution to the aforementioned problems fundamentally requires political courage”. They also recall that “Catalonia has very important assets and opportunities for progress that, if managed properly, can have great transformative potential for the country. There are many companies and institutions that are already developing projects that can have a catalytic effect on the Catalan economy as a whole” such as the automotive industry, food, the chemical or pharmaceutical sector, computing or advanced medicine.

Thus, they claim that in order to develop they need “first-level physical infrastructure” and the “support of the administrations” with “administrative streamlining” based on “new forms of management, such as specialized agencies that assume the role that they have traditionally had councils and ministries. Public support requires that the three administrations (local, regional and central) work hand in hand and put aside misgivings and the desire for leadership, which lead nowhere” to “promote an industrial policy that adequately capitalizes on the opportunity that is presented to us with the European funds NGEU. We run the risk of being left out of large projects due to a lack of ambition and strategic vision, as happened with the battery factory that ended up settling in Sagunto”.

The Círculo also recalled that the Barcelona airport expansion project is a priority since it is necessary to significantly increase the number of direct routes to long-haul intercontinental destinations to connect Barcelona with the most dynamic areas of the planet (Asia and the west coast of the USA)”. The businessmen believe that the expansion does not have to focus on continuing “indiscriminately increasing point-to-point connection and low-cost with short-haul destinations” and that the project “cannot be seen as a conflict between economic growth and the environment. The investment that the airport operator contemplates constitutes a great opportunity to significantly improve the financing and management of the ecosystem of the Llobregat delta, which today is in very poor condition.”

“This exercise in defense of the public interest in Catalonia has to be led by the Generalitat, which is the one responsible for making the pertinent technical analyzes and, once it has all the information, it has to negotiate with the agents involved (public and private) as consensual a solution as possible. You have to act with determination and speed.. Doing nothing, we all know, has and will have an astronomical opportunity cost for the Catalan economy”, indicates the Círculo. Finally, remember that the electoral process that opens this month with the municipal elections and will end with the regional elections in 2025, going through the general elections and the European ones next year, “cannot be the excuse for paralysis or for making big promises that can further increase the public debt that Spain accumulates, a debt that in one way or another will end up taking its toll and that our children will have to end up paying”.

That is why they demand from the political parties “a long-term vision, that transcends the electoral cycle, so that covering gaps now does not mean that bigger holes are opened later on”. They also ask for “a project that is mobilizing and generates illusion” in Barcelona and “rebuilds the battered alliance between the City Council and the private sector, as well as with the rest of the administrations, the third sector and civil society”. In addition, they send a message to the Generalitat of ERC: “Having overcome the lost decade, with a government that executes a meritorious pragmatic turn and an opposition that is committed to overcome the dynamics of blocks, it is time for self-government to regain its authority, and for that it is necessary to prioritize management and improve public policies on key issues. Management does not imply ceasing to raise demands that are agreed upon by the bulk of Catalan society, both with regard to the financing model and the demand for more quotas of self-government”.