Budget talks: Both 'right- and left-wing measures' in Junts proposals to government

We're almost 50 days into the new year and talks around Catalonia's budget for 2024 continue. 

Governing party Esquerra Republicana (ERC) hold just 33 seats in the 135-member Parliament and need support from at least one of the other two major parties – the Socialists (33 seats) and Junts (32) – to stand any chance of getting the budget approved. 

While negotiations with the Socialists are more advanced, government negotiators held their second meeting with Junts on Thursday, where the party founded by former president Carles Puigdemont handed over a list of 100 proposed measures. 

Junts wants to effectively abolish inheritance tax for spouses, parents and children (subsidizing it to 99%), and create a new unit within the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) in each region to "tackle occupations" of homes and other buildings. 

Another major proposal from the pro-independence party is a €50m package to help the agriculture, industry, tourism and sports sectors deal with the ongoing drought. 

Party spokesperson Mònica Sales said the proposals were "realistic" and "minimal," but added that they were not optimistic about an eventual budget deal. 

Sales said Junts had offered the government an alternative to "swapping trading cards" with the Socialists, who themselves need votes to pass the Spanish budget in Congress in Madrid. 

ERC: "Basis" for agreement 

Following the half-hour meeting on Thursday, ERC said there was a "basis" for a budget agreement with Junts, but that they did not share the same view on inheritance tax. 

"Proposals that go along the lines of reducing government revenues should be accompanied by proposals on how to increase revenues," ERC spokesperson Marta Vilalta said on Thursday. 

Vilalta criticized Junts for not sharing their proposals earlier, saying it would have made it easier to meet and move things along faster. 

The government said it will respond to Junts' proposals at a meeting next week. 

Right- and left-wing measures 

On Friday, Junts spokesperson Mònica Sales said that her party's budget proposals – including the abolition of inheritance tax and anti-occupation police units – contained "measures closer to the right and others closer to the left." 

In an interview with Catalunya Ràdio, Sales said that Junts is in "the center" with a "broad ideological spectrum." 

The party is trying to find a "balance" between ideological currents, she said. "I consider myself a social democrat and I feel very comfortable in Junts," she added.  

On the government's willingness to reach a deal, Sales said that while Junts have had only two meetings with the executive, the Socialists have had more. "The numbers speak for themselves," she said. 

Hard Rock casino 

The controversial Hard Rock casino-hotel complex planned for southern Catalonia was one of the major stumbling blocks in the negotiations for the 2023 budget, with the government eventually agreeing to the Socialists' demands to go ahead with the project. 

Despite that agreement, it is once again proving a sticking point, with the Socialists arguing that the government have not kept to their commitments, leading to tension during the latest talks between the two parties. 

Junts did not make any mention of the Hard Rock complex or the expansion of Barcelona-El Prat Airport in this year's budget proposals, with the party saying they are in favor of both, but that they have already been covered in the 2023 budget agreement. 

The government are to begin negotiations with En Comú Podem (8 seats) in the coming days, after reaching an agreed timetable for implementing pending measures from the 2023 budget. 

While not specifically naming Hard Rock, En Comú Podem have warned the government not to push or promote infrastructure projects that go against "the major strategic transformations" related to changes in "the tourism model and the fight against climate change and drought."