The President of the Government, Pedro Sanchezwill receive the President of Castilla-La Mancha, Emiliano Garcia-Page, the next one Friday October 4th at the Moncloa Palace, in an official and bilateral meeting that will be the first since October 2018, six years later.
This meeting, which will take place 4:00 p.m.is framed in the series of bilateral meetings that the president of the Central Executive will have with the different regional presidents with the central axis of the strong controversy created in Spanish politics around the autonomous financing and Catalan economic concert.
In recent days, Page has expressed his willingness to “Try to persuade“Sanchez against the quota for Catalonia and why he considers that it breaks equality and territorial solidarity and, from his point of view, This will harm Castilla-La Mancha and the rest of the autonomous communities..
The most critical
As we know, Page is the socialist baron most critical of this transfer of Sánchez to the separatists and went so far as to call the Catalan tax deal “obscene, crude and embarrassing,” among other disqualifications.
Other PSOE leaders, such as Javier Lambanalso denounced this agreement between the PSC and the ERC, which was one of the central topics of the PSOE Federal Committee on September 7.
The head of the central executive begins this Friday a series of bilateral meetings with regional presidentsstarting with Imanol Pradales (Basque Country), Alphonse Rueda (Galicia) and Juanma Moreno (Andalusia), with emphasis on regional financing after complaints about the economic agreement for Catalonia and other issues such as immigration, infrastructure, investments or the territorial debate.
October 4th will be Around the pagesOn the same day, Sánchez will also receive the president of the Region of Murcia, Fernando Lopez Mirasand that of the Valencian Community, Carlos Mazon, that in addition to regional financing, they also want to address the transfer of the Tagus with the President of the Government, as announced by the Murcian leader himself.
one by one
These bilateral meetings are part of the round table that the head of the Executive usually carries out after the regional elections, even if on this occasion Sánchez waited until elections were held in all the communities to receive each one individually. at the Moncloa Palace.
Page’s meeting with Sánchez at Moncloa will be the first in six years and the second in the entire term of the government president. The two socialist politicians held their first and only official bilateral meeting on October 15, 2018..
On this occasion, Sánchez received Page at Moncloa and Since then, the two leaders have not held any further bilateral institutional meetings. and they have only met occasionally at official events or organic meetings of the PSOE, such as the aforementioned Federal Committee held this month.
Special expectation
Sanchez’s next meeting with Page generates particular expectations due to the known lack of personal and political chemistry between the two and the strong criticism of the Castilian-La Mancha leader towards many decisions of Moncloa, now focused precisely on regional financing and the Catalan quota that is shaking up Spanish politics.
The President of Castilla-La Mancha and other regional leaders of the PSOE have launched a Intense critical offensive against this tax concert in Cataloniafundamentally because they consider that it breaks the principle of equality between Spaniards, favors one community over all others and attacks territorial solidarity.
These internal dissensions became evident in the latter The PSOE Federal Committee will celebrate this Saturday, September 7, in Madridalthough Sánchez did not even discuss this issue with regional leaders who, like Page, criticized him in their interventions.
It is particularly striking that, during this first and only meeting between Sánchez and Page in La Moncloa in October 2018, The President of Castilla-La Mancha has already spoken of the need for an “egalitarian” regional financing model for all communities, a battle that has intensified especially in recent weeks following the Catalan concert.
More than 150 complaints
In the absence of knowing the content of the future meeting between Sánchez and Page in La Moncloa, it seems clear that Self-financing will be at the heart of the meetingsince the president of Castilla-La Mancha made a a strong political commitment to fight against privileges of some territories compared to others.
At this meeting in 2018, Page presented Sánchez with a panel of more than 150 demands for Castilla-La ManchaAmong them are regional financing, the pending infrastructure map, water policy and the transfer of the Tagus and the fight “against commercialization with the independence movement”, as reflected at the time by the regional government in a statement to the media.
In addition to maintaining a clear critical position over the years, Last April, García-Page sent a letter to Pedro Sánchez in which he criticized the government’s policy of “I invite and you pay.” by political decisions that were not supported by corresponding funding.
