Whenever he utters the “I never” there will be a change of opinion lurking. That is the formula with which the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, manages his Government while the opposition accuses him of giving in to the “blackmail” of Carles Puigdemont, Arnaldo Otegi, Antoni Ortuzar or Marta Rovira. This Basque-Catalan quartet governs Spain with the mission of subduing it.
The seat, whether it is in Moncloa, in the Generalitat or a seat in a town, will always be worth a concession. Sánchez has assumed that Spain is divisible and that, since public money belongs to everyone, it is also his while he clings to the theory of the “hoax.”
This political bazaar makes us foresee what the next demand and, consequently, concession may be. In parliamentary arithmetic, Carles Puigdemont is willing to increase the cost of his seven votes in Congress and, after his game of illusionism, now together with ERC they will bid to see who gets the referendum first. And the spokesperson for ERC, Gabriel Rufián, already said it: “We forced Sánchez to do it.”
Collection
Before the agreement between PSC and ERC, they had already demanded the publication of the fiscal balances: that is, to calculate the difference between how many taxes collected in Catalonia are used to finance state services and how much state spending is produced in Catalonia. Junts calculated that it was 22,000 million, although others estimate it at much less. In 2020, ERC already challenged Pedro Sánchez to break up the “single fund” in exchange for voting for the General Budgets. However, they have waited for the moment of greatest socialist weakness – like the legend of the fox and the crow – to demand it again; this time in exchange for Illa’s presidential seat. The Executive gives in to breaking up the “single fund” in order to grant Catalonia singular financing so that it will be the Generalitat “that manages, collects, liquidates and inspects all taxes.”
Conflict resolution
A National Convention will be created to resolve the “political conflict”. It will be chaired by ERC and its driving group, by representatives of the parliamentary forces, who will present their conclusions to the Parliament and monitor the application of the Amnesty Law. It is the first time that the “conflict” will be debated exclusively in the Catalan sphere. Until now, the independence movement had claimed the voice of Catalonia and dealt with it with the State.
Catalonia and its own language
A Department of Language Policy will be created and the Pact for Language will be implemented to alleviate the “decline” in the social use of the Catalan language, with special attention to education.
El Prat Airport
The door is opened to the expansion of Barcelona airport “to correct the excessive specialisation in short flights and in favour of greater long-haul connectivity”. The pre-agreement calls for State-Generalitat collaboration and territorial consensus with respect to biodiversity. The creation of an Airport Governing Council and an Airport Authority of Catalonia responsible for the new role of the Generalitat in the model of airport governance is agreed.
Own selection
The agreement will also have an impact on the “national” sports teams of Catalonia. It includes the creation of an Office linked to the Catalan Sports Council, which will manage the applications of regional federations that wish to “participate directly at the international level.”
More resources
The financial resources allocated for the digitalisation of the administration of justice have been multiplied by five (from 1.2 million to 6.2 million euros) and the State will assume the entire cost of discounts and bonuses on the price of public transport. In addition, the VAT on oil has been reduced to 0%.
Immigration transfer
Junts, by abstention, demanded the transfer of immigration powers, which includes border control, expulsions, returns… This will mean turning the Mossos into a national police force and a further step towards the disappearance of the police stations in Catalonia, since they only exercise the powers of Immigration and Information.
Law of prosecution
They succeeded in repealing Article 43 bis of the Civil Procedure Act, which regulates the European preliminary ruling, in which judges can refer questions to the Court of Justice of the European Union and which could suspend the execution of the amnesty.
Return of companies
Pay to force the immediate return of companies that left Catalonia and return to the place where they mainly carry out their activity.
Amnesty Law
It involves the annulment of the judicial proceedings and the sentences derived from the events that occurred within the framework of the procés. It was done by Carles Puigdemon, but he has not yet benefited from it. For his agreement, it was also agreed that a Salvadoran “verifier”, an expert in guerrillas, would assume the mediation of all this from Geneva.
Commissions of inquiry
Three commissions of inquiry promoted by ERC and Junts were approved: on the attacks of August 17 in Barcelona and Cambrils; on the “Catalonia Operation” to address “the alleged irregularities that link senior police officers and commanders with the existence of a parapolice plot” -lawfare-; and, on the alleged espionage with “Pegasus”.
Transfer of Rodalies and the IMV
The transfer of Rodalies de Cercanías has been scheduled for the beginning of this year, when the guidelines for the transfer will be specified. The management of the Minimum Vital Income (IMV) will also be transferred to them.
Chip factory
Promote and finance a technological centre for chip production.
Empty the Civil Guard
Remove powers from the Traffic Civil Guard in Navarre, just as the GREIM (mountain groups) of El Roncal in Navarre and Puigcerda in Gerona have been losing powers, as well as the GEDEX (explosives) of the Basque Country (Álava and Guipúzcoa) and Catalonia, specifically the group from Lérida, adding all this to the dismantling of the Traffic specialty in Navarre. In addition, the Generalitat determined that the Mossos d’Esquadra would lead the security of the America’s Cup Sailing, being an exclusive function of the Civil Guard, deciding that it would be the Mossos who would control the port and without the Ministry of the Interior opposing it. They have also influenced the dismantling of the Seprona in Catalonia through the loss of powers. Little by little they are also seeking to displace the National Police from Catalan cities, ceding their powers to the Mossos so that in the end they will have to leave Catalonia.
Prisons
The PNV managed to obtain a concession to one of its historical demands, the transfer of prisons to the Basque Country. In addition, on the orders of EH Bildu, ETA members were brought closer to Basque prisons or nearby ones.
Laws
Other concessions have already been made previously: pardons for the separatists convicted of the coup d’état, the suppression of the crime of sedition or the reduction of the crime of embezzlement.
Due to the independence imperative, it was accepted that discrimination against National Police officers would be undertaken in vaccination in Catalonia and in order to push through the budgets, the Law of Historical Memory was also agreed with Bildu.
Security
Another concession was to allow Bildu and Esquerra to join the Official Secrets Commission, something that had not historically been permitted, to ignore and consent to tributes to convicted terrorists without passing any law to stop it despite it being a demand of the victims, to hand over the Pamplona City Council to Bildu and to push through the reform to improve Navarre.
Also among the ERC’s demands, the Government ended up dismissing the director of the CNI, Paz Esteban.