The counselor of Finance, Justice and European Affairs, Guillermo Peláez, has confirmed that the Principality has already closed an agreement with the General Treasury of Social Security to acquire the land and the building of the former Sanitary Residence Our Lady of Covadonga, although he has chosen not to detail either the expected timelines or the economic valuation of the operation.
Peláez has responded to a question from the PP deputy, José Agustín Cuervas Mons, reminding him that the figures published in some media, which spoke of 36 million, correspond to appraisals from 26 years ago and, therefore, "have no value as of today."
The head of Finance has insisted that, when it comes to a sale between public administrations, "when a public administration buys, such as the General Treasury of Social Security and the Principality of Asturias, the valuations are carried out by independent technicians. Therefore, we must let them work and we are not going to throw out figures here that could condition those independent technicians," he pointed out, refusing to offer estimates.
Regarding the future of the building, he specified that "as soon as it is in the hands of the Principality of Asturias, they will proceed with the demolition of the Residence, just as they are demolishing the old hospital and this means unlocking the urban development that is already awarded."
In response to the criticisms from the PP regarding delays and the alleged passivity of the Executive, Peláez defended the actions of the regional government, emphasizing that "they have not stopped working." He then replied to Cuervas Mons with a comparison to the capital of Spain: "I wonder, where is the City of Justice of Madrid, which has been stalled for I don't know how many twenty-five years?".
Cuervas Mons, for his part, has stated that his group considers the purchase "very positive," but has criticized the lack of information provided by the counselor and what he interprets as inaction from the Asturian Government. "I am not going to criticize it because I have been advising it since almost the beginning of the legislature, but until I see the operation finalized, to make the purchase, well, look, I will not be calm," he affirmed.
In another intervention, the Vox parliamentarian, Gonzalo Centeno Martín, has asked under what legal and economic conditions the demolition of the "mushrooms" of the old HUCA will be carried out. Peláez has explained that, from a legal point of view, it will be processed through a contract modification, as it involves an increase in the measurements linked to work units already awarded, and that, in economic terms, this modification will reach 1.7 million.
Debate on taxation and housing
In the chapter of other matters, and responding to a question posed by the PP deputy, Andrés Ruiz, the counselor has defended the fiscal policy of the regional government, especially the structure of rates applied to onerous property transfers for the so-called target groups.
Peláez has detailed that these groups include individuals under 35 years old, large families, single-parent families, and women victims of gender violence, as well as homes located in councils classified as being in a situation of risk or demographic crisis. In these cases, he has recalled, a rate of 4% is set if the property has a value of up to 150,000 euros, and a 6% is applied in the property transfer tax when the price of the home exceeds 150,000 euros. "We understand that it is a taxation, let's say, that addresses the reality of these target groups, we proposed it in the budgets," he pointed out.
Ruiz, on the other hand, has accused the Government of the Principality of having turned the IRPF into "a jumble in which liquidating it starts to require a private advisor to be able to take advantage of the deductions" and has warned that, with the new configuration of the property transfer tax, "what they intend to do is complicate it."