Catalan parliament approves 2022 budget without support of all pro-independence parties

The Catalan parliament has approved the 2022 budget, which has received support from coalition government partners Esquerra Republicana (ERC) and Junts per Catalunya (JxCat) but not fellow pro-independence CUP.

The far-left party has instead voted alongside all other pro-remain parties in Parliament: the conservative People's Party, center-right Ciudadanos, and far-right Vox. Anti-Austerity Comuns, the Catalan branch of Podemos, abstained. 

Economy minister Jaume Giró lamented CUP's decision not to back the budget. "We fell short of the 52%," he said in reference to the percentage of ballots pro-independence parties received in the February 14 Catalan election.  

Main 2022 budget figures

The budget approved on Thursday will see an additional €5bn, just under half of which is from EU Covid funds, go towards public spending, which will rise by 17.3% to €38.139 bn.  

The health (€1.456 bn), education (€1.009 bn) and social rights (€905 m) departments will be receiving the largest share. There will also be €500 m in extraordinary funds set aside. €90m of the education department's funds will be spent on making childcare free for two-year-olds before they begin school at age 3, while student-teacher ratios for 3-year-olds are set to drop to 1:20. 

€400 m will go towards the 'renda garantida de ciutadania' grants for low-income households, while €4 m will be used to fund a universal basic income pilot experiment.

Government-Comuns deal

The Catalan government needed Comuns' abstention in Parliament in order to pass the budget. In order to secure it, they signed a 17-page deal which sees an increase in spending on housing (€1bn), lowering IRPF income taxes on low incomes, €80 m for mental health programs, and €50m for public dental care.

They also agreed to spend another €160 on non-Covid health care and to help pass the Barcelona city budget - Barcelona mayor Ada Colau is of Comuns, while Esquerra has an equal number of councilors, 10, and JxCat has 5.