The forgiveness of 20% of the Catalan debt with the Autonomous Liquidity Fund (FLA), estimated at around 15,000 million euros, is one of the relevant points of the investiture agreement signed on Thursday between the PSOE and ERC. An agreement that has provoked an angry protest from all the autonomies governed by the PP, a wake-up call from the Canary Islands and an attitude of observance from the socialist fiefdom of Asturias, and support for Pedro Sánchez from Castilla-La Mancha. It must be taken into account that the agreement is extensible to all autonomies, and that the acting Government has already indicated that it will be adapted to the situation of each territory. On paper, everyone would benefit.
The majority of the autonomies ask for a condonation adapted to their needs, they remember that this negotiation must be carried out jointly, and the popular communities threaten to take the pact with Catalonia to court if the removal is not equitable. The PP prepares a new front of attack.
From Andalusia, President Juanma Moreno opened fire on Thursday demanding 17.8 billion euros. The Andalusian leader understood that this is the amount that would correspond to him if the calculation of money per inhabitant that Catalonia obtains with the aforementioned reduction is extrapolated. In addition, he requested 15,000 million “that have been lost with the current regional financing system.”
The Andalusian Government has indicated today that it rejects the possibility of 20% of its debt being forgiven, as it would mean "5,000 million alone compared to 15,000 in Catalonia." Thus, a new flank opens up to try to erode the PSOE before a new legislature.
Along these lines, the president of Aragon, Jorge Azcón, has charged against this bilateral agreement on Catalonia “without consulting the rest of the communities.” Meanwhile, from Murcia it has been highlighted that if Pedro Sánchez is willing to forgive debts "the first would have to be that of the Region of Murcia since it is the worst financed." And it has been pointed out that “the poorest regions” cannot be the ones that finance the richest ones.” From Madrid, and although this autonomy is not in the FLA, President Isabel Díaz Ayuso has considered that it is "distributing misery."
The president of Castilla y León, the popular Alfonso Fernández Mañueco, has indicated that if the forgiveness of the debt to Catalonia is confirmed, his community “will go to court.” He has pointed out that these 15,000 million that are forgiven “exceed the annual budget of the Board.” From Galicia it has also been stressed that no special treatment will be permitted, and in the Balearic Islands the Minister of Economy, Antoni Costa, has indicated that he does not accept agreements made between political parties, which should be between the communities and the Government.
The Balearic Islands propose that the Government create a fund that benefits all the autonomous communities and not only those that joined the FLA.
The Valencian president, Carlos Mazón, has considered that the removal for Catalonia “creates an unfair division between communities”, while María Guardiola, president of Extremadura, understands that “it grants privileges incompatible with the constitutional framework.”
The Autonomous Liquidity Fund was created in 2012 during the economic crisis as a State mechanism to support autonomies that did not have the solvency to finance themselves in the markets. The communities that joined the FLA were also Aragón, the Balearic Islands, Cantabria, Castilla-La Mancha, Extremadura, Murcia, La Rioja and the Valencian Community. After Catalonia, the most indebted are the Valencian Community, Andalusia, Castilla-La Mancha and Murcia.
In this context of criticism of the PP, Nadia Calviño has stressed that debt forgiveness will not affect equality between communities. “It is a measure that can be extended to the autonomies governed by the PP, some of which have been carrying a volume of public debt for decades that hampers their return to financial discipline.” The pact will therefore be extended to all common regime territories and does not have to be 20% of the debt in each case but rather based on the underfinancing linked to the economic crisis.
The text of the agreement between the PSOE and ERC also opens the door to “debt cancellation transfers in the case of indebtedness with third parties other than the State.” That is, the Community of Madrid, which is not in the FLA, could benefit.
The Canary Islands president, Fernando Clavijo (Canary Coalition), has rejected specific agreements that break the territorial balance, but has indicated that he must analyze it before making an in-depth statement. From the outset, he considers that a 20% application would not be fair.
From Asturias, the socialist Adrián Barbón has defended equal treatment with respect to what is agreed in Catalonia. And he has explained that Asturias should see part of “its living debt” forgiven. In Castilla-La Mancha, the also socialist Emiliano García-Page, very critical of the amnesty, has indicated instead that he “trusts” the Government.
