Opposition groups in the Parliament of Cantabria launched a unanimous attack this Tuesday against the Budget project of the regional Government of the PP for 2027, which totals 4,136.5 million. For the PRC, they are “fictitious and cynical”; the PSOE places them in the realm of “science fiction literature,” and Vox reduces them to an “electoral leaflet.”
The three formations agreed in denouncing the cut in investment, which they have placed at around 14 percent, and warned that with these accounts Cantabria will once again violate the spending rule, as the Independent Authority for Fiscal Responsibility (AIReF) has recently warned in a report published a few days ago.
These criticisms were made during the appearance in the Chamber by the Minister of Economy and Finance, Luis Ángel Agüeros (PP), who came to present the 2027 Budget project and the law on Fiscal Measures, known as the accompanying measure, registered by the Executive at the end of last month to begin its parliamentary processing.
Agüeros defended that these are “record” accounts, “ambitious,” that “respond to the needs of the people of Cantabria,” and that they are “the most social and solidarity-based that have been presented in Cantabria.” He also emphasized that the project incorporates “society’s concern about the housing problem.”
Criticisms from PRC, PSOE and Vox
The opposition’s reading was radically different. The PRC, in addition to insisting on the “fictitious” nature of the budget, accused the PP Government of “breaching the municipalist promises.” Its deputy and candidate for the Presidency of Cantabria, Paula Fernández, reproached that transfers to local entities continue “at the same level as in 2023,” despite the fact that the regional budget has increased since then by more than 630 million.
“How are you going to explain that to the mayors and to citizens?” the minister was asked, also questioning which investment projects will be maintained and which will be postponed. Although the regionalists acknowledge the impact of the end of European funds, they recall that it was something “planned” and known “in advance,” and they argue that the Government has had more than three years to design alternatives.
The PSOE said that the PP’s accounts have become “an experience close to science fiction literature”, despite the fact that the Executive of María José Sáenz de Buruaga arrived at Peña Herbosa promising budgets “real”, without “tricks” or “fantasy”. For the socialist deputy Ana Belén Álvarez, former councillor of Economy and Finance, the document includes “artificial” figures which, as in previous exercises, will not be carried out and will end up subject to “cuts”.
From Vox they described the budget as “completely fictitious, inversely regressive” and a “electoral brochure”. The formation also went after the tax reform included in the accompanying law, highlighting that the announced 5% de-indexing of the IRPF “returns” 25 million euros to Cantabrian taxpayers, which rise to 27 million with the rest of the deductions, while the Executive has “admitted” that it collects 106 million more per year from IRPF and another 74 million additional accumulated in property transfers.
Lack of negotiation and risk of a blockade
PRC and Vox reproached the Government for having registered the Draft Budget without a prior negotiation process with the opposition. Paula Fernández reminded Agüeros that in 2026 the same thing had already been done and “you know what the result was”: the Chamber returned the accounts in a situation “unprecedented in the history of the community”.
According to the regionalist, that experience has not served as a “lesson” to an Executive that “trips over the same stone twice again”, taking on the “risk of losing precious time”. She also warned that the PRC will not accept that the Government repeats the “strategy” applied with the current budget for 2026, which, in her view, consists of “shifting responsibility onto the opposition”.
Fernández stressed that if the accounts do not move forward, “it is the Government that ‘fails’.” “Governing in a minority requires negotiating, listening and accepting proposals from other groups, but you present some accounts and intend that without further ado the rest of the parliamentary groups will sign on. If you fail, it’s because you don’t do your job, and those who pay the consequences, without a doubt, are the people of Cantabria,” she said, calling on the ‘populares’ to “put arrogance aside and negotiate if they want to have a budget”.
The deputy asked the counselor for "reasons to put regionalists back in a position of trust" in the Executive because, as she said, "we don't have them." She recalled that the Government has failed to comply with "70 of the 131 commitments" assumed in the pact with the PRC that made it possible to approve the 2026 accounts in April. Agüeros, for his part, disagreed with that level of noncompliance and, regarding the dialogue, insisted that "the electoral climate that invades everything can complicate the budget negotiation," although he assured that the Executive "is not going to give up on dialogue or on agreement."
Defense by the PP of some responsible accounts
The PP argued that the budget is "responsible" and the one that "Cantabria needs." Its parliamentary spokesperson, Juan José Alonso, said that the Government "has already done its job" by presenting the draft and that now it is up to the groups to "work on it," "study it," "estimate it" if they consider it appropriate, and to submit the amendments they deem necessary.
"Responsibility for approving the budget lies with Parliament," Alonso stressed, distancing himself from the criticisms of the opposition and placing in the Chamber the final decision on the viability of the accounts for 2027.