Socialist Senator Susana Díaz, former president of the Junta de Andalucía and former secretary of the PSOE-A, arrived this Saturday at the interparliamentary meeting of the party in Seville with a clear intention: to categorically reject a possible Catalan quota and to position itself alongside the socialist federations categorically opposed to a specific financing agreement with Catalonia, detrimental to the rest of the regions. A declaration of war on Juan Espadas, current secretary general of the PSOE-Awho supports the decision of the government of Pedro Sánchez to maintain the Catalan quota, even if the Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero, deny that this is so. “My position has not changed over the years,” Díaz warns.
“Since I started participating in PSOE rallies, it has been engraved in my mind that the cradle in which you are born is not going to condition your life. And today, what I hear from the nationalists is that depending on whether that place of birth is in Andalusia, Catalonia or Vigo, you will have one resource or another. On this point – he was keen to clarify – I cannot agree.
“The model that we defended in 2018 has nothing to do with the aspirations of the ERC. What does Esquerra Republicana propose? He who has more must have more. And we propose a model that guarantees equal opportunities regardless of the wealth of your community and at the same time, it is a model that guarantees that communities with a more complicated economic situation can converge or improve our situation,” he added before entering the interparliamentary of the PSOE, which María Jesús Montero entered without wanting to make statements to the press.
“If we limit ourselves to those who have more, they will benefit from better public services, those who have less will have to pay more or will not have these services. Our 2018 financing model is clear: we do not want a co-payment, we do not want – defended Susana Díaz – that it is the shoulders of the Andalusians who have to bear greater taxation and equality of public services. “If the approach is not to respect the principle of solidarity, the principles of the 2018 agreement are violated.”
Susana Diaz did not want to comment on whether the federal or regional executives are moving forward, arguing that “I do not address organic issues. I have already passed that stage and I know perfectly well what my position is.”
“I am happy – said the senator – because in recent days I have begun to see colleagues claiming the 2018 agreement, which I consider a great agreement”, said Emiliano García Page, president of Castilla-La Mancha; Senator Javier Lambán and secretary of the PSOE of Aragon, among other socialist barons.
“There are people here who played an important role in this debate, such as Mario Jiménez, who was the parliamentary spokesperson and who was in charge of those who were part of this commission, such as the current Minister of Finance. At that time, we took a position that was not against anyone, but rather in favour of the defence of Andalusia. Our advantage is that our position is inclusive. Then, there was talk of financial sufficiency, and there was even a follow-up on how to improve the Fiscal and Financial Policy Council, which is used in a partisan way and does not make sense. In 2018, they were talking about things that are fully valid today.
According to him, “at present, the State keeps more resources every day than it gives to the autonomous communities, in proportion to the growth of our economy.” He did not want to blame María Jesús Montero for the time lost in changing the regional financing model. “It is a problem that all parties have had since the financing system was on the table. In 2007, the financing system did not benefit Andalusia. Griñán acknowledged this in his memoirs,” he stressed.
Likewise, he recalled that “in the Zapatero era, Andalusia was financially compensated to avoid the damage that this financing system caused us. Rajoy arrived and the compensation ended. And now, reality is what it is. In 2014, the deficit calculated for Andalusia thanks to this system was 3.7 billion euros and in 2015, 4.0 billion. Imagine how much money we would be talking about today nine years later. “This is a partisan issue that neither Montoro nor Rajoy wanted to get their teeth into.”
“I went to the Palau de la Generalitat to tell Artus Mas that we had a financing model in Andalusia in 2018 where we talked about equal opportunities and he replied that yes, yes, that this model was surely better for Andalusia, Valencia, Murcia and Catalonia, but it was not worth it to him, that what he wanted was a tax agreement and he told me so to my face,” said Díaz before entering the interparliamentary meeting attended by Juan Espadas; Javier Fernández, president of the Provincial Council of Seville; the deputy Alfonso Rodríguez Gómez de Celis; the current socialist parliamentary spokesperson for Andalusia, Ángeles Ferriz… “The position in which Montoro and Rajoy found themselves was one of immobility, that is why we were preaching in the desert. These years later, the issue “is back on the table,” the socialist stressed without ever mentioning Pedro Sánchez.
“I don’t know of any document that the PSOE has put on the table on what the ERC is proposing. “There is no document that indicates what the proposed financing model will consist of.” Why is Juan Espadas defending it then? The former president of the Board of Directors and former secretary general of the PSOE-A indicated that “now they will have the opportunity to ask him questions.” “I want to listen to my party.”
