Carolina España, Minister of Economy and Finance and spokesperson for the Andalusian government, has been denouncing the underfunding of the community for years. Having just arrived from a successful tour of China with the Prime Minister, Juanma Moreno, she fully entered the debate on the Catalan concert on the very day that the PP barons agreed on a common position.
Have you already estimated the economic impact of the PSC-ERC agreement?
The consequences will be catastrophic for Andalusia. We cannot yet quantify the economic impact because neither the minister nor anyone else has explained to us how they are going to comply with this blackmail by the separatists, which means giving them the key to the common fund to the detriment of all citizens, especially the 8.5 million Andalusians. According to our estimates, which also coincide with those of independent organizations such as FEDEA, they indicate that 30 billion euros will be withdrawn from said fund. There will be fewer resources for the financing system for communities and municipalities, but also for state investments and all state expenses.
Do you think this is a constitutional reform through a false door?
This is the rupture of the consensus of 78. It is an attack on the Constitution and the principles of equality, cohesion and solidarity. And it is wrong to say that it is moving towards a federal system, but rather that it is pursuing a bilateral relationship between Spain and Catalonia. What the pact contains is clearly unconstitutional. The financial singularity is only included for Navarre and the Basque Country, but not for Catalonia. In order to be approved, we understand that a reform of the LOFCA would have to take place. No government can ignore the laws.
Do you find the explanations given so far by Minister Montero understandable?
Minister Montero borders on the absurd when she insists on defending the indefensible. What he defends is taking the resources of the Andalusians and the rest of the Spanish to give them to Catalonia. All this to keep the chair. In the last intervention in the Senate, he had no shame in legitimizing the Catalan quota, without explaining how he intends to achieve it. And, what is very worrying, the government has already hinted that it plans to make the rest of us Spaniards pay more taxes to finance their illusions of independence. He has not deigned to explain anything to the autonomies. Andalusia has actively and passively asked you to convene a Council on Fiscal and Financial Policy. We still have not received a response.
Are they then afraid of a drastic increase in taxes?
The conclusion is clear. If more resources are granted to Catalonia while promising more for everyone, the only possibility is an increase in taxes. Recently, the UGT said that it would consider it appropriate to increase the tax burden. They are sending messages about tax harmonization, which would mean in Andalusia having to bear taxes again such as inheritance taxes, which we have abolished. The Spanish and Andalusians are going to pay more taxes for the blackmail of independence. There is no other. Why don’t they give explanations? Either they cut spending or they increase taxes if they want to give more resources to everyone in the same proportion as to Catalonia. And taxes will increase. They are prepared to cross all the red lines.
What do you think of the compensation fund announced yesterday by Sánchez? Is it enough?
It is confusing and it is throwing bullets. This fund is enshrined in the Spanish Constitution and has been in force since 1980. It was launched to try to correct inter-territorial economic imbalances and to make the principle of solidarity effective. The fact that it is doubled, as Pedro Sánchez said, represents a minimum amount and is only valid for the discourse. There are 432 million for all the communities, when only Andalusia stops receiving 1.5 billion euros each year to reach the average. The system needs billions and we are talking about 432 million. This is about making a mistake once again and trying to cover a hemorrhage with a bandage. We are making fun of the Spanish.
Do you feel deceived by the minister after the last Fiscal and Financial Policy Council?
I feel like my worst omens have come true. Even though she insisted that there would be no Catalan concert, a month later the pact that provided for this concert became a reality. During this council, the quota was already being negotiated. This is the government of lies. Since 2021, we have been waiting for the draft of the new SFA promised by the government. But it has not been given to us. If it had been presented and discussed at the CPFF, there would already most likely be a new model. With will, the system could be reformed. However, I fear that with the Catalan quota, this financing model, as we currently understand it, will explode. And what is worse is that the State model as we currently know it, our Constitution and the principles of Equality, Solidarity and Social Cohesion will explode.
What measures will Andalusia take against this agreement?
All this is necessary. We cannot stand idly by in the face of this outrage. The goal of the Catalan quota is that there are first and second class citizens, depending on their place of residence. Where has the solidarity that socialism promotes so much gone? We will do our best to combat this barbarity and seek a civil consensus, with a great alliance between society, businesses, social agents and, at the political level, all institutions (autonomous communities, municipalities, town halls, etc.). Once the decree is proposed, if it is issued, it will be time to fight at the judicial level. We will make sure that the Andalusians know that the government and its party are betraying them. If Catalonia finally manages to manage all taxes, it will have taken giant steps towards independence. It wants to break its economic dependence on the country. But why don’t they do the same with pensions? These are paid by all Spaniards, because the Catalan system is deficient.
Will there be coordinated action with other communities governed by the PP?
The PP communities agree to defend a Spain in which all citizens have the same rights, opportunities and services. The demands are more effective the more territories and people there are that support them.
And can they do this from a common position on financing?
It is the government that must make a proposal to reform the system. Even Minister Montero said so. It is up to the government to present a proposal to a Conference of Presidents and to the Fiscal and Financial Policy Council. What we will not accept is bilateral marketing and blackmail, because the financing system concerns us all and must be addressed multilaterally. The PP communities, as demonstrated by today’s (yesterday’s) meeting with Feijóo, agree on fundamental issues, essentially: that there is no bilateral negotiation, that there are more resources, that there is a compensation fund…
Do you expect communities governed by other parties, including the PSOE, to join the proposed actions?
The paradox is that it is an Andalusian minister who has become the spokesperson and most important ideologue of the Catalan independence movement. It is the world upside down. There are seven Andalusians in the PSOE federal committee. Will everyone defend the quota rather than their land? There can be no equality if the cake is the same, but more shares are distributed to one community than to the others. Who is it taken away from then? The PSOE-A is trying to show its face to its voters by defending a theft against the 8.5 million Andalusians. In Andalusia we need a socialism that respects the Constitution and defends the rights of the Andalusians. Sanchism is the complete opposite. It is a pity that in Andalusia they have taken it as a flag, compared to other communities such as Aragon or Castile-La Mancha, which have spoken out against the Catalan concert. It would be logical for the PSOE-A to also support the defense of equality between all Spaniards and the defense of the Constitution and the welfare state. Sánchez is taking measures at an organic level to control critical movements in Andalusia. The brave of the PSOE are being purged and persecuted. I would like there to be high-mindedness and courage to defend the Andalusians. Currently, it has become a branch of Sánchez capable of defending the independence movement in front of Andalusia.
Is Andalusia considering requesting debt cancellation?
Andalusia’s problem is not the debt, but rather the fact that it stops receiving 1.5 billion euros each year from the financing system, an obsolete system that the PSOE and the ERC had already agreed on at the time. The first thing is to renew the current system and, in the meantime, approve a temporary levelling fund so that Andalusia and the rest of the underfunded communities reach at least average levels. Why were these privileges for Catalonia, the greatest in history, not negotiated multilaterally and in the most absolute obscurantism?
