Spain weighs Catalonia’s fiscal autonomy amid separatist pressure

MADRID – A joint commission between the Spanish government and Catalonia's regional government is set to present a new “unique” financing scheme on Monday, granting Barcelona full control over collecting, managing, and spending its taxes.

The proposal, pushed by the pro-independence left-wing ERC party, would reform Spain’s Organic Law on regional financing and remove Catalonia from the current centralised funding system that redistributes tax revenues collected by the central government to the autonomous regions.

Catalonia’s fiscal autonomy was a key condition for ERC’s support of Socialist leader Salvador Illa (PSC), who became regional president in 2024. However, negotiations have stalled amid corruption scandals involving Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s PSOE, delaying the June 30 deadline.

Facing criticism that Sánchez is trading political concessions for parliamentary support, Finance Minister María Jesús Montero rejected the claim that Catalonia is receiving preferential treatment on Friday.

Nevertheless ERC president Oriol Junqueras insisted at the party's headquarters on Saturday that Catalonia “cannot be subordinated to the State’s Tax Agency” and warned that Sánchez’s stance on financing “will condition ERC's position on many issues.”

Catalan separatists, including ERC, want Barcelona to gain a special tax status similar to that of the Basque Country and Navarre, which enjoy special fiscal arrangements based on historical rights.

The opposition, and several socialist lawmakers, see Catalonia's potential fiscal autonomy as a political trade-off for Sánchez's corruption-plagued government to hold to power until the 2027 elections.

In February, Madrid agreed to write off €17 billion of Catalan debt - part of a broader €83 billion package to ease regional debt burdens.

Main opposition Popular Party labelled as a “political payoff” to Sánchez’s pro-independence partners in government.

(cs)