Esquerra Republicana considers that the government of commons and socialists in the Barcelona City Council is made up of "irresponsible" people and that the budget proposal for 2023 that they presented last week does not respond to the needs of the people of Barcelona... And, without However, despite all the regrets, the formation led by Ernest Maragall has abstained today in the initial vote on the budget. He has thus allowed the processing of municipal accounts for next year, which will most likely end up being approved definitively in the plenary session on December 23.
The debate in the Economy and Finance Commission of the 2023 budgets and the fiscal ordinances, which have also passed the first obstacle, has once again revealed how the interests of regional politics can condition the dynamics of the City Council from Barcelona.
Listening to the intervention of the ERC councilor Jordi Castellana, no one would have doubted that the Republicans were going to vote against the proposal defended by the deputy mayors Jordi Martí (BComú) and Jaume Collboni (PSC). However, the strong criticism launched by ERC to the budget, especially the way it has been presented and the lack of negotiating will that the Republicans attribute to the government, has ended up being a mirage that dissipated at the time of the vote.
"Irresponsible" has been the word most used by Castellana in his speech. ERC had unsuccessfully asked to postpone the debate on the initial approval until the committee in November to gain time in two ways: to analyze the proposal, which the opposition has not really had time to break down, and to see how things evolve in the Parlament, where the Republicans still do not have any support to approve the budget of the Generalitat for next year.
In fact, according to various sources, the direction of the ERC vote in the municipal commission was the subject of consultations on the other side of Plaça Sant Jaume. When in doubt, abstain. Jordi Castellana, in his interventions, has not entered into assessing the benefits or defects of the budget project, agreed by common people and socialists once they have been staged –with a certain theatricality and little suspense– and their initial discrepancies have been overcome. ERC's criticism, ultimately harmless, has been based almost exclusively on the method used by the two government partners.
It should be remembered that this year's municipal budget was already approved by legal imperative by an ERC which, as on this occasion, abstained in the first instance. Later he announced that he would vote against but, finally, despite the undisguised disgust of Ernest Maragall, he ended up abstaining out of obligation.
The record budget of 3,599 million euros and the fiscal ordinances (municipal taxes and fees) have passed this first procedure with the favorable vote of BComú and PSC, the abstention of ERC and Junts and the opposition of Ciudadanos, PP, Valents and the non-attached councilor Marilén Barceló.
Commons and socialists were convinced of ERC's abstention, but have been pleasantly surprised by Junts' attitude. Its spokesman, Ferran Mascarell, has also censured the methods used by the municipal government – we learned from the press that it was the tagline used by all the opposition groups – and has denied to Martí and Collboni that it is true that the budget presented responds to the needs of Barcelona and the people of Barcelona. But he has abstained.
Subsequently, Junts has clarified that these are not their budgets, but that, out of responsibility, because they have a vocation to govern the city and the moment is very critical for the city, the companies and the social fabric, today it was time to abstain. This, they specify, does not mean at all that in December Junts will end up supporting the budgets of Ada Colau and Jaume Collboni.
The socialist Jaume Collboni has been especially critical of ERC, who has diagnosed the Republicans with "political autism" due to the attitude they maintain both in the Barcelona City Council and in the Government of the Generalitat. "Governing is not that they govern too much, but at least they let govern", Collboni has claimed, who has recalled the sense of responsibility (that word again) of the first secretary of the PSC, Salvador Illa, and his predisposition to dialogue and negotiation .
Jordi Martí has also made reference to ERC's loneliness in Parliament. "It seems that they also want to lose their alliances with common and socialists", said the deputy mayor of BComú before asking the Republicans to abstain, which Castellana finally ended up announcing.
The rest of the opposition groups are not bound by commitments outside of local politics. Today they have already voted against the proposed budget and fiscal ordinances for 2023 and it seems unlikely that they will change their position before Christmas. If anything, only the popular and unpredictable Josep Bou has left a little door open.
Both Josep Bou and Luz Guilarte (Citizens) and Eva Parera (Valents) have lamented the tax freeze and have advocated lowering the tax burden to mitigate the damage caused by the new crisis. And on the world day of political responsibility they have appealed to the municipal government.
