Illa maintains that “Catalonia contributes to improving Spain” and defends its own financing

The President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, has set the objective of his mandate that “Catalonia contributes to improving Spain” and has defended Catalan self-financing as a legal reform that is enshrined in the Spanish Constitution and that will serve to improve public services. This is how Illa expressed himself in his first interview as Catalan President, published this Sunday by ‘La Vanguardia’ and collected by Europa Press, in which he stated that the best solidarity with the rest of Spanish citizens is to develop policies that improve education, health and security. “We will look for ways and means to make it effective. That is my commitment. It will not be easy. There are people here and elsewhere who make a lot of noise about this issue. But I would like to invite people to have a constructive approach, to adhere to a solidarity approach to Catalonia,” he stressed. Illa expressed the opinion that Catalonia must once again become the economic leader of Spain and be one of the leading regions in Europe in generating prosperity, and established the current context as a time of “very relevant” changes at the technological, economic and environmental level. which requires, he said, updating the forms of recent decades. “We have the capacities, the industrial and financial fabric to do it. And the government that I preside over must accompany this process aimed at placing Catalonia at the forefront in generating prosperity in Spain,” he stressed. AGREEMENTS WITH ERC AND COMUNS Regarding the investiture agreements reached with ERC and Comuns, he said that they are “very thoughtful, very solid and positive pacts for the country”, and that they represent a first step in a legislature that, in his opinion, will be beneficial. He assured that he would be faithful to the agreements with the ERC and the Comuns, which he considers priority and privileged interlocutors because “they are the ones who made the unblocking possible in Catalonia”, although he opened the door to dialogue with other parties except, literally, those that practice hate speech. BUDGET EXECUTION Regarding the execution of the budget of the central government of Catalonia, Illa clarified that the agreement with ERC provides for the creation of a consortium to execute the investments, a measure that he describes as “interesting” and that, he emphasizes, will provide continuity. He thus emphasized that Barcelona airport is a key infrastructure for the Catalan economy and that this summer, according to him, it is reaching the limit of its capacity, which is why he defended its improvement “with scrupulous respect for the environment”. Likewise, he said he would carry out an audit within the government “not so much to pull out rugs as to diagnose what can be improved” within the Catalan executive after the transfer of the government of former president Pere Aragonès.