After weeks of negotiations between the political groups, the summit on measures to alleviate the severe drought that Catalonia is suffering and will predictably suffer in the coming months ended in failure.
The point of disagreement that prevented the signing of a pact by all the political forces led by the president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, were the sanctions that the Government proposed to impose on councils that breach the limitations on alcohol consumption water
The majority, but especially the PSC, rejected this regime of sanctions - at least in the short term - in the conviction that the Generalitat cannot pass the responsibility for the deficient water collection and distribution infrastructures to the municipalities.
All the political groups were invited to the meeting with the exception of Vox, a group that, even in matters as exceptional as this one, continues to be subject to the so-called sanitary cordon.
The obstacle that has damaged this summit is the sanctioning regime that was required in the councils set by the Catalan Executive in the urgent measures decree approved a month ago and validated by the Parliament only with the favorable votes of ERC.
The Catalan Executive attended this summit in Palau and called for the "joint responsibility" of parties and institutions after having approved a decree. But the last preparatory meeting held between all the groups just yesterday morning did not give rise to optimism. In fact, sources familiar with the meeting say that the holding of the summit itself was in jeopardy.
The sanctioning regime included in the Government's initial decree provoked criticism from the parties, especially the PSC and Junts.
The Socialists called for its removal or at least a one-year moratorium on its application, while Junts, which had initially agreed to a moratorium on its application until July 1, ended up adding to the request of non-application that the socialists claimed.
In any case, the Government will go ahead with its plans, and "there will not be a new decree", they warn. The one validated in Parliament will be processed as a bill with the aim of reaching a consensus with the parliamentary groups sufficient to approve it definitively. In view of what has happened, it does not seem easy.
In a press conference at the Palau de la Generalitat, the Minister for Climate Action, Teresa Jordà, assured that, in reality, the Government's intention is not to sanction, but to "dissuade" councils that do not comply with the restrictions or exceed the 230 liters of water per day per person set in the initial decree law.
But the agreement was not possible because "a specific group did not agree". "If we had moved this, we would not have had an agreement either because other groups considered that it should remain that way."
The Socialists say they were ready to modify their demands on the moratorium to reduce it to six months, but they recalled that the president promised to talk about these fines in his parliamentary session and that nothing had changed since then.
In any case, the PSC continues to consider that it is a mistake to "penalize" the municipalities with the sanctions provided for in the decree and this is the attitude they will maintain when processing the decree as a bill in Parliament.
The president of the Junts parliamentary group, Albert Batet, criticized the lack of "leadership of a weak Government that has acted late and badly", and which has caused "a new failure".
Batet stated that "it is a shame that some think more about the party than the country" and "have not been able to move on an issue as important as the drought". Thus, the leader of Junts advanced that his group is considering presenting an alternative bill to the current decree.
The "shame and disappointment were shared by the CUP and En Comú Podemos, who regretted that the Government had allowed itself to be "dragged" by an "electoral tactic at the doors of the municipal councils".
No one came out of the meeting satisfied, especially because with the information that the groups received in the same session about the drought and the meteorological prospects, everything indicates that, whatever they are, severe measures will have to be taken in order to alleviate the lack of water
