The pandemic is bringing out with particular clarity the essence of Catalan separatism. The one that as soon as it blames the Spanish Government for the uncontrolled spread of the coronavirus, as it requires it to assume the economic bill of the crisis, taking refuge in the very nationalist mantra that Catalonia will be insolvent to solve its financial troubles until it succeeds in establishing itself as a independent state.

Yesterday Quim Torra dusted off this recurring manual and alleged that "the Generalitat has scarce resources to stimulate the Catalan economy, as well as to offer public services with the quality and quantity that would correspond" once the most difficult phase of the pandemic and confinement is left behind and the time has come to rebuild the economy. The President of the Generalitat appealed to the ever-abated financing deficit to demand that the Government assume the economic consequences of Covid-19.

"Coronabonnos are not the only way, the State has to act," said the head of the Catalan Executive in a letter sent to the leader of Podemos in Catalonia, Jessica Albiach, who days ago had asked Torra for a position on the response of the European Union in the face of the economic consequences of the coronavirus crisis.

"The State cannot stop," says the president in the letter, apologizing in advance to the Generalitat of any responsibility for the consequences that the pandemic causes in the Catalan economy. Next, Torra demands that the government "suspend the spending rule, transfer the deficit targets of the autonomous communities for 2020 and 2021, provide them with the financing mechanisms they require and remove the limitations on the municipalities for the use of the surplus." For Catalonia, in particular, Torra also claims "the non-reduction of 55% of the funds for active employment policies" or the "payment of arrears to the Generalitat" and "the corresponding part of the dependency law". "These resources would be very useful to help our citizens and strengthen the health system until an effective vaccine arrives and to rebuild the economic and social fabric" of Catalonia, concludes the President of the Generalitat, who has spent the last three years with the Budgets carried over due to the incapacity of the separatist forces to agree on new accounts since 2017.

REVALIDATE YOUR SEPARIST BET

Torra puts black on white some intentions that the spokeswoman for the Govern, Mertixell Budó, already pointed out two weeks ago when she proclaimed: "Who has to get into debt in this crisis is the State".

The President of the Generalitat urges the rescue of the Catalan economy while revalidating his separatist claims, which remain intact, as he wanted to clarify the day before yesterday when he recalled that he presides over a "independence government that will defend the self-determination of Catalonia in any forum in which it participates."

That was the response of the Catalan chief executive to Pedro Sánchez's call to reach a "great agreement" for the reconstruction of the country after the coronavirus.

Budó had already warned on Thursday, in relation to the new Moncloa pacts, that the Government of the Generalitat currently shared by JxCat and ERC will not participate in any agreement that "seeks to strengthen the recentralization of the State". A State that, however, does require Torra to revive the economy of Catalonia.

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  • Catalonia
  • European Union
  • Quim Torra
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  • Pedro Sánchez
  • Jessica Albiach
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  • Politics
  • Coronavirus

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