cristóbal montoro

“No public money was spent on the referendum," said Cristóbal Montoro shortly after 2017 vote

Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría says “everyone saw violent images” from September 20, 2017 protests in her testimony as witness in independence trial

Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría was in charge of regional policy during referendum

Judge vetoes use of Catalan in court by Esquerra MP Joan Tardà, who justifies protests and rejects "any use of violence" for political purposes

Former Spanish president and some of his ministers will give testimony in sessions starting on Tuesday after last two defendants take the stand

Court prosecuting Catalan leaders for misuse of funds asks for clarifications

Catalan administration required to send Madrid information about all payments made to some 60 entities

Spain’s budget for 2017 allocates €1.14 billion to invest in Catalonia, €30 million less than last year. However, as a percentage, the figure represents 13.4% of the total, which is higher than in 2016, which saw only 10.7% investment for Catalonia. The allocation is still below Catalonia’s contribution to Spain's GDP, which is 19%. Although most of the investment is oriented toward infrastructures, the figures are a far cry from the major investment that Spanish President, Mariano Rajoy, announced last week for Catalonia. Indeed, he said that €4.2 billion will arrive in Catalonia by 2020. Spain's Minister of Finance, Cristóbal Montoro, admitted that the budget doesn’t include the promised measures and assured that the investment “will move forward in 2018”.

The Catalan Vice President and Minister for Economy and Tax Office, Oriol Junqueras, voted against the new regional deficit target of 0.6% of GDP agreed between the Conservative People’s Party (PP) and the Spanish Socialists (PSOE). During the Council on Fiscal and Financial Policies (CPFF, going by its Catalan initials) on Thursday evening, Junqueras said that the target is “absolutely far from what citizens need and deserve”. The Catalan Government had asked for a 1.18% deficit target for 2017, but the Autonomous Communities’ limits were set instead at 0.6% for next year, 0.3% for 2018 and 0% of GDP for 2019. They were accepted despite the opposition of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencia. The communities led by the PSOE abstained. The Spanish Finance Minister, Cristóbal Montoro, celebrated the fact that only three territories voted against the measure, saying there was a “good atmosphere” at the meeting.

The Catalan vice president and Catalan Minister for Economy and Tax Office, Oriol Junqueras, stated that the Government “won’t make any cuts”and emphasised that Catalonia already allocates 70% of its budget to social policies and that 90% of the Government’s expenses are final. Junqueras’ statements come after the Spanish Finance Minister, Cristóbal Montoro, sent a letter to several Autonomous Communities in Spain urging them to “comply with the budget stability”. Montoro also nuanced that Catalonia’s deficit target in 2015, which was 2.7%, surpassed the maximum deficit established by the Spanish government by 0.7%. “If the Spanish Ministry wants to make cuts or shut down hospitals, it will have to come and do it itself”, warned Junqueras. He also emphasised that “the Spanish Finance Ministry has imposed so many cuts in the last years that any additional ones are simply inapplicable”.

The Spanish Finance Ministry transferred this morning 3 billion euros from the Spanish Liquidity Point (FLA) corresponding to Catalonia. However there is still 34 million pending to be transferred due to the Ministry’s “invoices checking” procedure. The payment of this 3 billion euros from the FLA comes after the controversial "specific and additional controls" that Spain's executive has imposed on Catalonia to guarantee "transparency" and ensure that “the FLA won’t fund pro-independence whims”, in the words of Spanish Finance Minister Cristóbal Montoro. The 3.034 billion euros assigned this year to Catalonia includes the 2.6 billion euros outstanding from 2014’s FLA, which the Catalan government repeatedly asked for in order to pay pending debts, such as those from pharmacies and medical centres.

Catalonia will be the only Autonomous Community in Spain whose part of the Spanish Liquidity Point (FLA) will be subject to extra control measures. "It is arbitrary discrimination" against Catalan citizens and the Government's suppliers, stated current Catalan Finance Minister Andreu Mas-Colell this Tuesday and announced that the Government will take the measures before the Spanish Supreme Court. Spanish Finance Minister Cristóbal Montoro justified the imposition of "specific and additional controls" to guarantee "transparency" and ensure that “the FLA won’t fund pro-independence whims”. Mas-Colell accused Spain's executive of trying to take political advantage of an "ordinary procedure between administrations" and urged the Spanish government to pay the pending 3,034 million euros from the FLA before the end of the year. 

Spanish Finance Minister Cristóbal Montoro warned that Catalonia will have access to the 3,034 million euros from the Spanish Liquidity Point (FLA) after the control extra measures imposed by the Spanish executive "are accomplished". Last Friday, the Spanish government announced specific control measures for Catalonia "to guarantee" that the FLA's money "won’t fund pro-independence whims". According to Montoro, the Catalan government "shouldn't distract the attention" and should correctly administer the citizens’ money. In order to increase the control over Catalonia's finances, Montoro announced that the Bank of Spain, the Comptroller General's Office and the National Institute of Statistics will investigate the 1,300 million euros that Spain's executive believes wasn't properly accounted for last year.