The Junta de Andalucía and the PP have started the political journey as they had closed the previous one, aiming at the pact between the PSOE and the ERC so that Salvador Illa can preside over the Generalitat. The people know that the Catalan quota (or consultation or differentiated financing, depending on who defines it) is an issue that puts the Andalusian PSOE and the first vice-president and Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero, always first in the groups. in a hypothetical replacement of Juan Espadas as leader of the Andalusian socialists. In this scenario, it is not surprising that all efforts are being made, to the point of inciting citizens to act on the matter, even by demonstrating in the streets.
The message is not new, as it has been launched with different variations over the last month, but in a matter of hours, the ink has flowed again and again in the popular ranks. Juan Manuel Moreno himself already did it on Sunday in Alhaurín de la Torre, in Malaga: Andalusians must “react” and “become aware” of the “theft” that this pact represents for Andalusia. And the spokesperson for the Andalusian government and also Minister of the Treasury, Carolina España, insisted on this this Monday, and even said that she would work with social and economic agents so that they “absorb” the effects of the Catalan quota. That is to say, citizens will be encouraged to mobilize.
Beyond the argument of inequality, according to which this agreement – in the words of Spain – means “champagne for some and coffee for others”, the PP tries to translate it into concrete issues. For this reason, it insists that “without a doubt” the Catalan quota “will affect our health, our education, our dependency, but also our investments, vulnerable groups, families, public transport and roads”.
Speak “loud and clear”
The Popular Party’s maneuver is trying to follow the same one that the PSOE had already followed during the Transition, when it managed to galvanize the Andalusians with its demand for first-rate autonomy, as Catalonia, the Basque Country and Galicia would benefit from. This threw millions of people into the streets at the end of the 1970s, put an end to the two-speed Spain that was emerging and led to the famous “coffee for all” that calmed the regional waters. In doing so, it made the PSOE the hegemonic party in Andalusia for decades.
The PP will therefore continue to dig into what is, according to it, a wound for Andalusian socialism and for María Jesús Montero, which has led the spokesman of the Junta to call for the “mobilization of socialists dissatisfied by the sanchismo”. Another thing is that this translates into a massive response in the streets, but the most popular will continue to press that button so that Andalusian civil society can express itself “loudly and clearly”.
20 billion with “grievances”
In her appearance after the Government Council this Monday, Carolina España did not spare the disqualifications against the “government of lies” and against a Pedro Sánchez who is implementing a “policy of absurdity” that “has given oxygen” to the Catalan independentists to “stay a few more months in La Moncloa. This mainly means “betraying Andalusia” and “taking for fools” the Andalusians, to whom “they are lying”.
By the way, we insist on recalling that Andalusia suffers from underfinancing that, according to the PP’s accounts, has led to 15 billion euros not being received since 2009, a figure that Spain has raised to 20 billion “if we add grievances with the covid funds or employment plans. In this sense, the Andalusian Executive reiterates its request to urgently change the regional financing model, maintaining in parallel its request that – pending that moment – a temporary leveling fund be activated to compensate for the deficit in the arrival of funds.
