The lack of communication and the deterioration of relations between the Spanish and Catalan governments were more than evident yesterday at noon with the visit to Terrassa by the Minister of Transport, Raquel Sánchez. The Government planted the minister and while she announced "a historic agreement" to unblock the construction of the B-40 highway -known as the fourth ring road- in Vallès Occidental, Pere Aragonès contradicted her from La Seu d'Urgell, 150 kilometers away away, and assured that this agreement does not exist.
The new maxim of the Generalitat for relations with Moncloa was verbalized by the president himself: "The time for words has passed and now it is time for execution and compliance". A phrase studied to remind the central Executive that in Catalonia it does not comply with the promised investments, that there is a long way from saying to doing, and that it becomes a 2.0 version of the motto “Acts, not words” of 2006 by José Montilla to use it now against the socialists.
So the president of the Generalitat ordered the general secretary of the Vice-presidency, Ricard Font, not to attend the minister's act at the headquarters of the Vallès Occidental Regional Council, as planned and despite having held talks on the matter with Moncloa . Aragonès reacted in this way in protest at the low investments of the State in Catalonia – 36% executed with respect to what was budgeted for 2021 – accredited by the Ministry of Finance.
For Aragonès, Sánchez's mobility proposals for that region “are not based on any specific agreement; therefore, again, words.” "What people need is certainty, that the investments are executed."
However, the minister stated during the act that with the agreement that she says was reached with the Generalitat, the layout of the road will be decided by the Government and that it will be the Ministry of Transport that provides the necessary funds for a construction planned for some time. more than 40 years. Both things have been demanded by Catalonia for years, although it is true that the agreement does not have a defined calendar or budget.
What does have an assigned amount is the AP-7, with an investment for improvements of 78 million euros.
However, Minister Sánchez described the Government's attitude as "childish". Like the mayors present, she criticized Aragonés. “What has happened is not a sit-in for the Ministry or the Government, it is for 500,000 Vallesans and companies from Sabadell, Terrassa and Castellar del Vallès,” he said before adding: “We cannot afford to use the infrastructure to raise flags that in any case harm”.
For its part, from the Catalan Executive they emphasize that the minister “has come to take a photo to cover up” the breaches of the investments. In the Government they affirm that on Thursday, when they learned of Sánchez's visit, they were surprised because, according to what they say, there is no written agreement or any proposed agreement. And they also highlight that the president has already taught a lesson with the lack of investment, with everything related to Pegasus and the face-to-face with Pedro Sánchez who never arrives, and that "the word of the Spanish Government cannot be trusted." For the Generalitat, participating in the presentation would whitewash everything.
There is a tagline that also helps explain why no one from the Government attended the appointment. ERC is contrary to the approaches of the fourth belt. They consider them "expired", as they stated in a statement. The Republicans also point out that the idea of building "more sections of the original layout of the B-40 is a socio-vergent priority" that they do not share. They reject that the solution is high-capacity roads and Esquerra's alternative proposal goes through, among others, promoting public transport in the Vallès Occidental and the Oriental.
Be that as it may, the Generalitat was not with Raquel Sánchez yesterday, but believes that the framework for studying the infrastructure investment deficit is the technical subcommittee of the Bilateral Infrastructure Commission. It will meet next Friday and it is where the Government expects Moncloa to give explanations for the low budget execution in Catalonia.
