Salvador Illa, president of the Generalitat of Catalonia, and Pedro Sanchez, The President of the Spanish Government, met this morning at La Moncloa for a little over an hour, as part of the meetings that Sánchez is holding with regional leaders, to agree that more transfers from the Executive will be reactivated, They will strengthen the community justice courts and invest in a scientific pilot factory in Cerdanyola del Vallés (Barcelona). Illa left the meeting “satisfied” and assured that now “a hopeful and exciting stage is opening for Catalonia and for all of Spain.”
The leader of the CPS, who has just completed one hundred days of his mandate at the head of the Generalitat, stressed that with this meeting, the “institutional normality” between the two administrations, after the “process”, and affirmed that these meetings must be “the norm” and “not the exception”. In this sense, Illa confirmed that he will participate in the Conference of Regional Presidents which will be held in Santander next December 13. “We will take our rightful place and give our vision of Spain,” he added.
In this sense, Illa reiterated that, according to him, “Catalonia has once again become deeply involved in the improvement of a plural and diversified Spain” and that “Catalonia will get involved in the improvement of Spain and the State of Spain”. autonomy”, propose, listen, work and find agreements. Two ideas that he conveyed to Sánchez during their meeting this Friday, and before the President of the Government met the regional presidents of Castile and León, Ceuta and Melilla. “A new stage is opening in relations between the two governments,” he insisted.
“Show Current Status”
In this “normality”, Illa obtained agreements from Sánchez in three areas, according to what the President of the Generalitat himself reported at a press conference in Moncloa after the meeting. On the one hand, the two politicians committed to “strengthening Catalan self-government to improve the quality of life of citizens”. According to Illa, “there is room to deploy the current Status” and this will be done through the “reactivation” of the the four bilateral State-Generalitat commissions, so that “during the first quarter of 2025”, probably in February, the first meetings will take place.
The second major agreement concerns justice and security. The President of the Catalan Government recalled that work is underway, in collaboration with the Ministry of Justice, to improve the resources of the community courts and reduce the “congestion” of cases. The objective is “increase the number of speedy trials and reduce ongoing trials.” The first shock measures will be visible in December, “to fight against multiple criminal recidivism”. Illa said that “Catalonia has litigation above the Spanish average and judicial bodies below average.”
The third commitment made by Illa de la Moncloa is to increase investments in “key infrastructure” for innovation and “shared prosperity”, such as the Cerdanyola del Vallés chip factory. “A project on which the government of Aragonès has worked hard and well”, he underlined, and which “takes an important step today”, because it guarantees “that Catalonia and Spain will be at “vanguard of this strategic industry”. It is estimated that 922 million euros will be mobilized and will place Catalonia among the 50 most innovative regions in the European Union.
[En ampliación]
