For the first time, businessmen twisted the arm of Pedro Sánchez’s government, which had already included in the budget and in the tax plan sent to Brussels an extension of the tax on energy companies and banks. And this is not the only occasion, because on Tuesday the Second Vice President and Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, was forced to extend for the umpteenth time the negotiation on the reduction of the working day. A sign he can stop the government. In both movements, the vote of Junts, Puigdemont’s party, is essential, which is ready to make Sánchez sweat so that he approves his budgets and other economic laws. Could the ideological complexity of the current government coalition turn against you in the months to come?
Junts seeks to recover the specter of the old CiU, claiming its role as a conservative party, representative of the bourgeoisie and the large Catalan middle class. But unfortunately without renouncing its independence, which limits its possibilities of collaboration with other political forces and social agents. They assure that they will support all proposals that create wealth for Catalonia. Why, then, did they stop taxing the oil companies and not the banks?
The trigger was the letter sent to La Vanguardia by the CEO of Repsol, Josu Jon Imaz, to warn of the cessation of the oil company’s investments in Tarragona for around 1.1 billion. The movement was supported by CEPSA, the second largest oil company, which had until then remained in the background. In a press release, he also acknowledged that he could end his commitment to the Andalusian hydrogen valley, which mobilized the unions.
CEPSA’s Arab partners, Abu Dhabi’s sovereign fund Mubadala, informed Sánchez of their refusal to invest nearly 3 billion in hydrogen projects if the tax is extended. But they had done it in private, so as not to snub the President of the Government, who had participated by his presence in the presentation of the investment plans.
The final touch came from the statement of the Catalan employers’ association Foment del Trevall, in which it warned that the chemical pole of Tarragona was at stake. The complaint was taken up by the president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, who promised to convey this concern to Sánchez.
At the same time, the bank has been much more discreet in its public statements in honor, perhaps, of the Botín doctrine. The legendary Cantabrian banker claimed that a bank could never come to an agreement with its government, because it was a regulated sector.
The president of the AEB, Alejandra Kindelan, admitted that the government had not contacted them. Many entities considered that things were not serious after the cordial meeting held in June with the Minister of Economy, Carlos Body, to sign the agreement of ICO loans of 30 billion dollars under the Next Generation funds . Body did not mention tax, which confirms that his management corresponds entirely to Vice President Montero.
All entities have contacted the ICO honey panel. Has the new generation served to deceive or perhaps even cover the mouths of the banks?
The protests against employers and bank executives took place at the last moment, when Junts had practically made his decision.
Sources from the Catalan independence party acknowledge that only those responsible for a Catalan entity contacted them before this date. You don’t have to be very smart to guess the name. Sabadell CEO César González Bueno publicly acknowledged that “not enough” had been done.
The pressure on Junts redoubled last week, with a statement from Foment, promoted by the president of the La Caixa Foundation, Isidro Fainé, in which it warned of the harmful effects for it and for the financing of SMEs.
CaixaBank is the entity most affected, according to its CEO, Gonzalo Gortázar, since the tax is progressive depending on its size up to 6 percent of the tax base. Gortázar called it “the CaixaBank fees”, which could have to pay around 500 million, or almost half of the revenue anticipated by the Treasury.
Some see a political conflict behind the scenes. Bridges with Puigdemont’s party have still not been completely rebuilt since the departure of the former general director of the La Caixa Foundation, Jaume Giró. But his powers are diminished and he lacks internal support. Giró unsuccessfully aspired to play the role of the current spokesperson in Congress, Miriam Nogueras, and then to other positions within the leadership of the Junts.
In any case, the two major banking associations, AEB and CECA, have announced an appeal because they believe that there is double taxation, as well as discrimination compared to other sectors.
The agreement with the PNV to assume the tax is the straw that breaks the camel’s back, since the intention of the Basque Government would be to establish a deduction higher than the 25 percent proposed by the State. The main beneficiary would be Kutxabank and not BBVA, which in Euskadi only pays for its activity in this territory.
Montero does not sew without thread. If anyone thought that because of the huge taxes we were going to stop collecting 2.5 billion a year, they were wrong. The vice president, desperate to conform to Europe and under pressure from increased government spending, has dreamed up other taxes to more than make up the loss and double revenues, portending a legal battle.
Bank employers will not only defend themselves in court, political elements will also come into play. Podemos and Sumar are against the removal of the tax on oil companies. and they could end up rejecting the entire amendment. But it is still too early to say for sure.
Another paradigmatic case is the reduction of the working day to 37.5 hours per week, blocked for months and has lowered the ultimatums of the Labor Party, to which it never complies because it does not have enough support to get it passed in Congress. The president of the employers’ union, Antonio Garamendi, managed on this occasion to gather the support of the general secretary of CEPYME, Gerardo Cuerva, and the president of Foment, Sánchez Llibre, thanks once again to the frontal opposition of Junts to the reform by Diaz. .
The businessman’s rebellion comes at the worst time for the government, with five waterways weakening its management.
- The indictment of his wife, Begoña Gómez, accused of four crimes, including embezzlement.
- The Koldo case, with the risk that former minister José Liis Ábalos and former organizational secretary of the PSOE, pulls the rug out from under him and reveals where the Venezuelan money that Delcy Rodríguez brought in his suitcases via Barajas went .
- The probable explosion of Sumar because of the Errejón affair, which deteriorates Vice President Yolanda Díaz in the eyes of public opinion and in front of her party, because she did not stop her in time.
- Lack of budgets for the second year in a row. Junts did not even reach an agreement on the spending cap.
- Housing has become the second biggest concern for Spaniards and Podemos is threatening to withdraw its support if measures are not taken to reduce rents by 40 percent. Something impossible to achieve under current market conditions.
Unresolved issues are piling up on the table, although Sánchez will try to extend his term at all costs. The turn of Junts, the bad relations with Podemos, as well as the internal crisis of Sumar as well as the legal conflicts open the way to overturn the crazy plans of the government in tax and labor matters, from which businessmen should take advantage so that ‘it does not recur like the bank tax.
PS Plus. It is urgent to remedy the lack of coordination between administrations to avoid tragedies like the Valencia floods. After the late sending of alerts, assistance to survivors is chaotic.
