The Minister of Science and Universities and leader of the PSPV, Diana Morant, describes as "ridiculous" the refusal that the Consell of Juanfran Pérez Llorca has maintained for months to accept the new proposal for regional financing from the central Government. In her opinion, behind this stance there is only a frontal rejection of Pedro Sánchez: "The approach is no to Pedro Sánchez. And in that approach, what they are really saying is no to 3.7 billion euros more for the Valencians," she warns.
"Does Pérez Llorca really have nothing to contribute in Valencian terms to the 3.7 billion euros proposed by Arcadi España or the Government of Spain? It's just another excuse. But they will not be forgiven by Valencian society, we will never forgive them," she states in an interview with Europa Press.
The proposal for reforming regional financing was made public at the beginning of the year, as a result of an agreement between the Government and ERC. All the communities governed by the PP, including the Comunitat Valenciana, have positioned themselves against it, understanding that it has been agreed upon bilaterally. Canarias, where CC, PP, and an independent formation govern, reached an agreement with the Executive at the end of July to receive more than 1.3 billion additional with the new scheme, which represents extra support for the proposal alongside that of Catalonia.
In contrast, the Generalitat Valenciana maintains its rejection and demands that the debate be taken to the Council of Fiscal and Financial Policy (CPFF). A meeting of this body was scheduled for July 29, but the Ministry of Finance, led by the Valencian Arcadi España, decided to postpone it to September 4 at the request of the autonomous communities governed by the PP.
In this context, Morant accuses the Consell of acting "irresponsibly" by renouncing 3.7 billion at a time when "there is finally a financing model" that, she claims, would allow for the hiring of 10,000 healthcare workers and 10,000 teachers, increasing teachers' salaries by 400 euros, building 20,000 public protection housing (VPP), and reinforcing the public emergency system "which has been cut by the PP."
"They are renouncing all of that, and they have no right," she emphasizes, adding that "it is very difficult to reach agreements with someone who does not want to reach an agreement."
The minister reproaches Llorca for first requesting a meeting with the head of Finance, the Valencian Arcadi España, after his arrival in office, then stating "we sit down but do not talk about financing, because that has to be discussed at a table with everyone" and finally, "when we are all at the table, the PP as a block gets up and leaves, without any alternative model." "It is not Arcadi España's responsibility," she emphasizes.
Furthermore, she reminds the PPCV that "they govern the Comunitat Valenciana because they have not allowed or given the Valencians the voice to choose a new Consell, a new president after the dana" of October 29, 2024.
In fact, the socialist candidate for the Generalitat maintains that the Valencian executive is being "equally irresponsible" with financing as with the management of the dana. "The negligent and irresponsible politics of the PP has cost us very dearly: 231 lives (...) The dana has been a before and after in the Comunitat Valenciana. Nothing is the same as before the dana, it is impossible."
Equalization fund for the Comunitat Valenciana?
When asked if the Government would be willing to study an equalization fund for the Comunitat Valenciana, as demanded by the Consell, while the reform is not approved, Morant argues that the Generalitat needs this instrument "as an annual patch" until there is a new system "and because there is a debt generated over the years." However, she recalls that it was the PP who presented, just like Vox, a total amendment in Congress against the debt cancellation proposed by the Executive, amendments that were rejected thanks to the vote against by Junts.
At this point, she emphasizes: "I, as the general secretary of the PSPV, ask the Government of Spain not for a cancellation of the debt of these 11 billion euros that are from the time of Mariano Rajoy. I ask the Government to also propose for those of us who have had that underfunding, which is real, another opportunity to settle that debt."
With all that, she insists that "in no case can we give up the 11 billion euros that the Government is offering us in exchange for nothing." And she considers that even less so if the Consell and the rest of the autonomous communities governed by the PP continue "blocking the new financing model."
"Do you have the right, if you don't want the Government to solve the debt for you and to solve the financing model for you forever, to be asking for a patch for this year? I think it's very ridiculous," he emphasizes.
The role of Arcadi España in Treasury
On the other hand, when asked if it is already noticeable that there is a Valencian minister at the head of Treasury —in the midst of preparing the General State Budgets (PGE) for 2027, again without guarantees of succeeding in Congress—, the minister maintains that "it is already noticeable" and that "even before" the appointment of España. "I would say that the president of the Government is the most federalist that our country has ever had," she states.
And she concludes: "Arcadi España continues to work with a financing model that the Government of Pedro Sánchez has proposed and with which, finally, in the Comunitat Valenciana we see all the demands made by civil society recognized. What I don't know is what the position of the Popular Party is."