Singular financing and timetable for the transfer of taxes to Catalonia

It will be held in Moncloa during the month of January 2026. And it will be used to conclude the agreement “in substance and form” on the tax quota for Catalonia.

It is a meeting that the President of the Government announced last Monday, hidden within his press conference to review the year.

And above all, according to a quote that the Republican leader requested after learning of the arrest of the former president of Sepi, plumber of the PSOE, of Antxón Alonso (partner of Santos Cerdan) And Julio Martinezpresident of Plus Ultra.

Last week, this secret anti-corruption investigation which led to these arrests caused “alarms” at the ERC headquarters in Barcelona.

Junqueras had to overcome internal resistance in his party to promote the meeting. Among those closest to him, there is fear that a public photograph with Sánchez could mean “lend political legitimacy” at a time of extreme anxiety for the Executive.

“Sánchez has never been so weakened”explain republican sources consulted by this newspaper. And such an image, some in Esquerra believe, can be more harmful than beneficial in electoral terms.

However, the leader of the ERC believes that this appointment is appropriate, precisely for a double strategic reason. On the one hand, it serves to build what those close to him call a “way out”, allowing the independence party to Maintain your option to abandon support for Sánchez when you deem it necessary.

“There may be irregular financing of the PSOE, in relation to Sepi and Cerdán,” they explain.

But on the other hand, the meeting must serve to give a definitive impetus to the main agreement by which ERC facilitated the nomination of Sánchez, in November 2023: the tax quota for Catalonia.

As this newspaper learned, during the January meeting in Moncloa, this commitment will be addressed in its two aspects.

The call “single financing” (that is to say privileged compared to the rest of the Autonomous Communities still under common regime) as “the transfer of 100% of taxes generated in Catalonia”presumably with a specific timetable for its deployment.

The influence of Extremadura

ERC sources consulted by this newspaper confirm that the deal is all but done. One of the only reasons for the delay is purely electoral questions which concern the PSOE.

“It was not appropriate go to the Extremadura elections announcing a tax agreement with the Catalans”, explains another source close to the negotiations. The articulation of the “model” specific funding for Catalonia and “shape” in which the Tax Agency of Catalonia will collect taxes are already beyond the project.

The other reason for the delay is that Maria Jesus Monterofirst vice-president of the government, has been “busy” in recent weeks.

She was the main negotiator on this file, as Minister of Finance. But he had to contain the political fires caused by the arrest of Vicente Martinezhis former president of Sepi, for a corruption affair which includes allegations 2% bites and personal enrichment.

Montero herself is in difficulty because she retained Martínez’s position for a year and a half, without appointing another president for Sepi, after he had to resign due to his involvement in the party. Aznalcóllar case.

After failing to be fired, Martínez resigned his return to the public company and found work… in Servinabar.

This is the construction company Cerdán and Alonso which is supposed rigged public markets in exchange for “bites”, also, 2%.

Context since 23-D

At ERC, these details “triggered the alarm,” according to their sources. The party fears that such a complex network would end up unraveling a case of illegal financing of the PSOE.

and it is the absolute “red line” that ERC has drawn to distance themselves from parliamentary support for Sánchez.

After 23-J, the only option for the PSOE to maintain power consisted of a multi-party pact, where ERC and Junts had the greatest weight, with Junqueras and Carles Puigdemontthe two leaders responsible for process of 2017, in charge.

With Esquerra, the PSOE agreed on a sort of “Basque-style quota” the negotiation of which was detailed later, during the inauguration of Salvador Illaat the head of the Generalitat of Catalonia. But progress has stalled February 2025.

Then the two parties agreed to create working groups so that the Generalitat could begin to collect personal income tax in 2026. The November 2023 agreement demanded more speed, but the deadlines have been exceeded without progress “neither in substance nor in form”.

Junqueras had already warned in June that he would have to reconsider his support for Sánchez if there was no progress in the “one-stop financing”. And in April, Junqueras and Puigdemont warned Moncloa that they would not vote on the budgets if the agreement was not reached.

The two independence leaders demanded that the government repays “the debt with Catalonia”referring to “unmanaged investments” (figured in 22 billion) and “deleveraging” with the Autonomous Liquidity Fund (other 15 billion).

For its part, not only the CCAA of the PP, but the president of Castilla-La Mancha himself, the socialist Emiliano García-Pageannounced a call to the TC for “any legislative reform that involves the transfer to Catalonia” of 100% of taxes, considering that “breaks constitutional equality between Spaniards”.

However, the political fragility of the Government explains why Junqueras considered it practical the photograph of his entry into Moncloa. And why Sánchez accepted it without batting an eyelid.