The transfer of Rodalies to the Generalitat has already been signed. It is one of the historical demands of the Generalitat of Catalonia. The PSOE and ERC have reached an agreement for the total transfer of the train service that would include tracks and trains, but above all financing that helps alleviate the disinvestment that according to the Generalitat has occurred over decades. ERC wants fixed financing each year. However, the transfer will be in phases. Furthermore, pending details, if roads from other autonomous communities and those that link with France are included, legislative modifications would be necessary, since they are property of the State.
Rodalies is one of the issues that Esquerra has put on the table to facilitate the investiture of Pedro Sánchez. The title of the agreement explicitly refers to a "comprehensive transfer" and it has accelerated in the last two days. On the part of the Government, the negotiations on this point have been led by the Ministry of the Presidency, led by Laura Vilagrà, and the Ministry of Territory, led by Ester Capella.
The Republicans have placed Rodalies next to ending the fiscal deficit, which according to the Department of Economy was 22 billion euros. Regarding the amnesty, ERC and the socialists sealed an agreement this Tuesday that according to the Republicans includes all "those who have been retaliated against without exception" for political reasons since 2013. The self-determination folder remains unresolved, at least publicly.
The history of complaints from the Generalitat regarding Rodalies is endless. The Government went so far as to describe the situation as "systematic neglect." In 2010, when José Montilla was president of the Generalitat and José Luis Zapatero was president of the Government, a transfer of powers was agreed upon, which the Generalitat has always considered insufficient. Catalonia took control of schedules and rates. The Generalitat also defines frequencies, destinations, organization of the lines and is the owner of the train service. But basic issues remained in the pipeline, such as the management of trains, personnel and infrastructure, which are still in the hands of Renfe and Adif today. However, this situation will change with the new agreement between socialists and republicans.
Sánchez's re-election as President of the Government seems to be close. The PSOE is still holding conversations in parallel with ERC and JxCat at this time. After finalizing the amnesty and Rodaliesde folders, those of Oriol Junqueras hope to finish detailing the progress in self-determination. In this sense, the Republicans demand that the dialogue table be resumed, from which agreements were reached for pardons or the reform of the Penal Code. The staging of this negotiation space has not occurred since the summer of 2022. At first, Pere Aragonès intends that the members of the table be only members of both governments, but he is willing for the parties to be part of a kind of commission evaluator of the agreements that may be reached.
The Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, is in Barcelona. Aragonès has canceled the visit to the Port of Barcelona, which was scheduled for twelve noon.
