In the middle of the debate on the reform of the regional financing system and the possibility of a removal of the accumulated debt, a new report from Fedea gives arguments to the Valencian Community in its claim. The study prepared by Ángel de la Fuente in which the liquidation of the regional financing system corresponding to 2021 is analyzed, details how the Valencian autonomy, together with Murcia, is the worst stop when comparing the regional indices of relative financing per adjusted inhabitant .
In fact, if the Spanish average is 100, only the Valencian Community (92.1), Murcia (90.8), Andalusia (94.3) and Castilla-La Mancha (95) are below that national average. , far from the 115 of Cantabria or the 112 of La Rioja. Thus, only neighboring Murcia is in a worse place than the Valencian Community.
The added problem is that the variations registered in 2021 in the relative positions of the different autonomous communities, in terms of effective financing per inhabitant, have not only not improved the position of the Valencian Community, but have worsened it. Faced with the advances of some autonomies that call the attention of Ángel de la Fuente -Baleares gains 5.5 points for the recovery of tax revenue that it had lost in 2020 with the tourist crisis caused by the pandemic- the study confirms the decline of the already already affected: Murcia (-1.5), Valencia (-1.0) and Castilla la Mancha (-1.0) which, De la Fuente points out, "remaining among the last positions in the distribution, are still far more than average”.
The Fedea report adds that "continuing with the policy adopted in 2020, the Central Government has significantly increased extraordinary transfers to the autonomous communities so that they could face the crisis without excessive financial worries." However, even with these extra funds (such as the Covid fund), the Valencian Community cannot come close to the Spanish average.
Some data that confirm the urgent need to reform the regional financing system to put an end to the differences that it has not only created but also seems to deepen. The finance ministers of both the PP and the PSOE have recognized "the Valencian problem" that Ximo Puig spoke of or the "Valencian exceptionality" that the president of the Generalitat, Carlos Mazón, now refers to.
And it is that the debate on the change of the model in the Valencian Community is recurring and a claim that has been dragging on for years, but it has only gained weight at the national level as a possible bargaining chip for Catalan nationalists to try to facilitate the investiture of Pedro Sanchez.
A circumstance that has put the territorial barons of the PP on guard despite the fact that, as the report states, some, such as Carlos Mazón from Valencia, Fernando López Miras from Murcia or Juanma Moreno Bonilla from Andalusia, are among the most affected by the current situation. . However, none of them has just trusted a reform conditional on the investiture of their political rival.
