Andalusian President Juan Manuel Moreno refused to put Andalusia’s financing requests on the table during the meeting with Sánchez, thus conforming to the party strategy established by Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who asked his people not to negotiate bilaterally on financing. the President of the Government. A strategy that empties the Statute of Autonomy of content – a norm with the rank of organic law that allows the Authority to negotiate bilaterally with the State on aspects related to its financing – and that clashes with several notable episodes in the history of Andalusia’s self-government, some featuring Moreno himself.
In the press conference he gave after the meeting with Sánchez, Moreno acknowledged not having discussed issues such as the compensation fund that Andalusia needs to level its financing with the rest of the communities, considering that it should be addressed in “a multilateral meeting” with the rest of the territorial powers.
“As it affects the rest of the autonomous communities, I think it should be debated in the Conference of Presidents or in the Council of Fiscal and Financial Policy,” added the Andalusian president, repeating the mantra he has been preaching since Sánchez announced that he would call, one by one, the regional presidents to discuss financing with them, after reaching a single fiscal pact for Catalonia with ERC linked to the investiture of Salvador Illa.
In this sense, he insisted that “it would have been more functional and operational” to convene the Conference of Presidents that he has been requesting – personally and on behalf of the rest of the PP barons – “since November 9, 2023”, as Moreno recalled in an intervention full of reproaches and seasoned with irony.
Equality among the Spaniards
Among the points discussed in the interview with Sánchez, Moreno highlighted that he had spoken at length about the “Catalan quota”, starting by asking him to “reconsider this decision and withdraw this initiative”. “This quota weakens Spain, which is why the separatists themselves demand it”, criticised Moreno, stressing that “Andalusia is clearly defeated if this financing model finally sees the light of day”.
According to the leader of the Andalusian PP, the only fiscal pact for Catalonia “breaks the principle of interterritorial solidarity and equality between citizens”, condemning that there are “first and second class Spaniards”. Again appealing for equity, Moreno appealed to him. He said he had spoken with the president of the government about the “grievances of Andalusia” in matters of dependency or unemployment.
“I told him that he had the challenge of unifying his country and that this meant giving instruments to all citizens, regardless of the territory in which they live, so that they could advance without privileges,” Moreno told the media after the meeting.
More border controls
Likewise, the Andalusian president took advantage of the meeting with Sánchez to present him with a document containing 100 demands, similar to those he transmitted to him in the two previous meetings at Moncloa, in June 2021 and July 2022, “and that they are still pending,” adds the Andalusian Executive.
Among the issues that “concern” the Andalusian president and that he transmitted this Friday to the Prime Minister, is the management of immigration. “There must be maximum coordination and transparency, it is impossible for migrants to arrive and we know about it through the media,” said Moreno, referring to the recent arrival of 85 sub-Saharan refugees in the Sevillian city of Alcalá de Guadaíra.
In this regard, he asked the government for greater “economic cooperation” to provide the autonomous communities with the necessary resources to “offer services to migrants who arrive in our territories.” Regarding migration, Moreno also demanded “greater efforts in border control for irregular immigration,” advocating for “regulated and planned” migration and rejecting “uncontrolled migration that generates problems of coexistence and resources.”
No specific commitments
Finally, the president of the Junta de Andalucía mentioned demands such as the review of infrastructure, focusing on the railway plan and pending connections such as that of Seville airport with the Santa Justa station. In short, “issues that interest Andalusia and that affect the future of our territory”, as Moreno expressed from Moncloa.
Before returning to the Andalusian community, he regretted that the meeting he had this Friday with Sánchez ended “without any concrete commitment for Andalusia.” “I leave empty-handed, after having had a conversation with the President of the Government,” said Moreno Bonilla.
“It is always interesting for government representatives to talk, to dialogue, but it must have a meaning, an agenda, an objective, so that we can arrive with a proposal, with a certain commitment and that has not happened today,” said the Andalusian president who once again stressed the need to return to the path of multilateralism, convening the Conference of Presidents.
Moreno thus closed the first series of meetings with regional leaders convened by the President of the Government and which began this Friday with the meeting with Lehendakari, Imanol Pradales. The meetings in Moncloa will continue on October 4 with the presidents of Castilla-La Mancha, the Comunitat Valenciana and Murcia.
