spanish

The Spanish Government will set a spending limit and sanctions for Autonomies that do not meet the deficit objectives

January 13, 2012 11:26 PM | CNA / Gaspar Pericay Coll

Catalonia already approved its own spending limit through a law of its own last September. The Spanish Vice President, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, explained that the new Budget Stability and Sustainability Law will introduce “mechanism corrections” and “almost automatic” sanctions for public administrations that do not meet the deficit objectives. In addition, before approving their budget, the Autonomies and large city town councils will have to commit to a spending limit and present detailed reports on several aspects of the budget. However, she stressed that each autonomous government will have the freedom to allocate resources.

Regional governments are responsible for less than 20% of Spain’s debt and for 33% of its 2011 deficit

January 12, 2012 11:11 PM | CNA

In the last number of weeks, regional governments in Spain have been taking the blame for the deficit, and in the past week have done so at an international level. However, Spain’s Central Government is responsible for 63% of the country’s deficit and 75% of public debt, despite controlling less than half of public expenditure and having far greater control over revenue. Regional governments have produced less than 20% of Spain’s public debt and in 2011 were responsible for 33% of the country’s deficit, despite representing around 40% of the public expenditure total and managing the most expensive and socially-rooted policies (healthcare, education, social grants, public transportation, etc.).

The Spanish Government threatens to financially asphyxiate the Autonomies that do not meet the deficit objective

January 11, 2012 10:12 PM | CNA

The Spanish Finance Minister, Cristóbal Montoro, announced that the Central Government might heavily fine the governments of Autonomous Communities that do not meet the deficit objective. Montoro, from the People’s Party (PP), met with the regional governments run by his party to prepare a common position on the issue. On the same day, the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU) gave its support to the Spanish’s Government decree to cut public spending and increase taxes, announced at the end of December.

Catalonia rejects the Spanish Government’s proposal to approve the Autonomies’ budget in advance

January 5, 2012 10:02 PM | CNA / Gaspar Pericay Coll

The Spokesperson for the Catalan Government has said that the new Spanish Economy Minister’s proposal goes against the Constitution and Catalonia’s self-governance. The Basque Country is also against the measure announced by Luís de Guindos in an interview with the Financial Times. He said that the crisis “was an opportunity to impose hard conditions and measures” on the Autonomies; he also added that before the Autonomies pass their budget, the Spanish Government will have to approve it. The next day, the Spanish Vice President refused to go into detail on the issue but stated that every administration has to commit to the deficit objective.

“Treating the Autonomies like children or bad students is silly and unfair”, warns the Catalan President

January 3, 2012 11:15 PM | CNA / Gaspar Pericay Coll

Artur Mas, President of the Catalan Government, has reflected on his first year in office. Mas justified the budget cuts his government has made in order to avoid “a collapse” in public services. He also criticised the recent trend of patronising the Autonomous Communities and claiming that they are responsible for Spain’s financial problems. That, he believes, has made them scapegoats. “The Autonomies are a very important part of the State”, “they provide almost all public services to citizens”, he stressed. In addition, Mas insisted that Spain’s debt and deficit is mainly due to the Spanish Government’s overspending over many years and not the fault of the Autonomies or the municipalities.

Unemployment in Catalonia falls in December, but increased by 9.17% in 2011

January 3, 2012 09:04 PM | CNA

At the end of 2011 there were 614,244 people registered as unemployed in Catalonia, 9.17% more than a year ago. However, unemployment dropped in December by 1,425 people, after it stabilised in November, leaving September and October as the worst months of the year. In stark contrast to Catalonia, the rest of Spain experienced an increase in unemployment in December and 2011 ended with 4,422,359 people signing on the register, 7.86% more than at the end of 2010.

Spain’s new Minister for the Economy “feels sympathetic” for the Catalan Government’s “austerity efforts”

January 2, 2012 10:29 PM | CNA

In a radio interview, Luis de Guindos, said he is supportive of the budget austerity measures put in place by the Catalan Government over the last 12 months. In addition, the new Spanish Minister for the Economy stated that the drug prescription fee proposed by the Catalan Government is Catalonia’s responsibility, contrary to that said by the previous Spanish Government. In addition, the Catalan Health Minister explained that the drug prescription fee would include exceptions “basically” based on personal “economic reasons”.