The ‘procs’ that returns: failures, instability and lack of investment

Catalonia lives mired in misgovernment since the beginning of the procs: The last elections that were held when it was time were in 2010 and raised the Convergence of Artur Mas to the power. Since then, Catalan politics has become a vaudeville at the expense of the independence challenge. An instability that persists to this day, at the gates of the new elections on May 12 called by CKDthe second in just three years, and to which Carles Puigdemont has decided to present himself under the mantra of completing the independence process.

A procs which has generated misgovernment and lack of investment in the last decade: the legislature that ended this week has been the longest since the tripartite era despite the fact that it has only lasted three years. The mandate of Puigdemontfor example, ended in both (2015-2017), just like that of Quim Torra (2018-2020) or that of Artur Mas (end of 2012-2015). And the flight of companies as a result of the illegal referendum has not yet been reversed with a negative balance of 4,500 lost companies.

After the challenge of 2017, not even the post-1-O has served to provide continuity to the Executive of the Generalitat, mired in a thousand and one internal battles between republicans and neo-convergents led by Quim Torra and Pere Aragons, the last two presidents. After the turbulent mandate of Torra, who ended up being convicted of disobedience, Aragons began to temporarily assume the presidency of the Generalitat until the 2021 elections, with the 2020 accounts extended and in the midst of the pandemic. A provisional nature that was extended for a few months due to the independence movement’s inability to reach an agreement. The agreement arrived in extremis (in May 2021) and caused the reissue of the government between Junts and ERCwith the Republicans for the first time at the head of the Generalitat.

That’s right, the Government of Aragons It didn’t last long and went off the rails just a year and a half later: Together He slammed the door and left the Generalitat in October 2022 after severe internal crises. The dialogue table and the long shadow of Puigdemont since Waterloo left to ERC with 33 seats (of 135) at the head of an Executive in a historic minority.

The decline that had begun with Torra and continued with Aragons and Junts exploded with the Republicans alone: ​​never before had a president governed with so little power and without any ally in the Parliamentan anomaly that has been reflected in day-to-day management.

At an economic level, Catalonia has missed several large projects in recent years under the leadership of ERC – the expansion of the El Prat airport, the leisure complex hard rock or even the 2030 Winter Olympic Games – and has only managed to approve half of the planned Budgets (2022 and 2023), with the consequent loss of added investment.

After the failure of the negotiation of the latest accounts with the commons that has led to the early elections of 12-M, the Generalitat must maintain the same level of spending as in the Budgets of the extended year, which in 2023 rose to 41,025 million euros. However, for this year more than 43.6 billion, Therefore, the Executive will be unable to spend those 2.6 billion added in 2024 to face the drought or the current educational crisis. Of course, in the meantime they will face the second regional elections in three years.

In this sense, the departments of the Generalitat involved have already warned that they will have to review their plans and leave some planned projects fallow due to the lack of political agreement with the Budgets. A situation that worsens in the case of Climate Action: the counselor faces the worst drought in history with the extended accounts and will have to reorganize several items internally to be able to carry out the most urgent projects and aid to those affected. Or in Education, with the worst results of the PISA report still to be amended. A bad political, economic and social photograph to display in a campaign.

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