As Spain confronts the reality of its economic woes, it's becoming increasingly difficult to separate economic fact from political fiction. Last Thursday, Spain's minister of economy admitted that the 2011 budget deficit had missed the 6% of GDP target by about 2 percentage points and doubted that Spain could comply with the EU-imposed deficit target for 2012. With its debt risk still at high levels, the strategy of the new Spanish government is to shift the blame to the regional governments, like Catalonia, and at the same time use the crisis to grab back the power that was devolved to the regions in the 1980s. Unfortunately, the international media are starting to buy it.
Yet, while it may be true that some Spanish regions have overspent their means, in the case of Catalonia (capital: Barcelona) this is far from the truth.
In the past few years, Catalonia has been incredibly fiscally responsible, despite a no-win financial structure imposed by the country. One of the most productive regions in Spain (contributing 18.7% of Spain's GDP), it actually pays to the central government a staggering amount more in taxes than it receives from the central government in spending.
The imbalance has grown so large as to imperil Catalonia's own well-being. A 2005 report released by the Catalan government stated that Catalans had contributed 47 billion euros to the central government but had received only 30 billion euros in spending, resulting in a fiscal imbalance of almost 17 billion euros, or 9.8% GDP. A study released by the Spanish central government itself concurred, estimating the deficit to be 8.7% GDP. In other words, each year the equivalent of some US $21 billion goes directly from Catalan taxpayers to the central government. This makes it impossible for the Catalan government to make ends meet, despite the fact that it is responsible for delivering a wide range of services to its citizens -- responsibilities that have grown as the central government devolves (without cutting its own civil servant workforce!)
Not only is the funding too little, it is erratically paid; for example, so far Spain has refused to hand over 759 million euros -- ($1 billion USD) -- that had already been approved and included in the central budget. Catalonia's Minister of Economy accused the Spanish government of withholding the funds owed to Catalonia to both make Spain's debt look better and Catalonia's worse.
Since Catalonia has no relevant tax-collecting power of its own to make up for this lack of funding, its regional government has had to cut its budget by 10% -- incurring the wrath of many of its citizens. It tried to institute cuts its own way -- instead of immediately attaining the goal of 1.3% fiscal deficit demanded by Madrid, it chose a two year plan, with a 2.4% deficit for the first year, and 1.3% the next. Not wanting the regions to have such autonomy, the Spanish minister of economy recently announced that all new budgets from the regions would have to be approved by the Spanish executive branch -- something akin to requiring California's state budget to be approved by President Obama.
Despite the fact that it provides more funds to Spain than it takes in, Catalonia must sit by and watch the central government fund projects that do not help Catalan citizens. The Spanish government spent $60 billion building high-speed rail lines that link low density communities with marginal demand, like the connection between Toledo (population 80,000) to Cuenca (population: 56,000) which was finally canceled in June, 2011, because it cost around $22,000 per day to run, and over six months, had had only 2,796 passengers.
Meanwhile, there is no high-speed rail service at all from major port cities Barcelona (metro population: 5 million) to Valencia (2.3 million) or to the French border. Unfortunately, that is one example among many. Free highways, brand new schools, and empty airports abound all over Spain while Catalonia's commuters must pay exorbitant tolls, their schools are old and overcrowded, and the Barcelona airport is restricted from flying to certain international destinations in favor of Madrid's Barajas.
Add that to the palpable scorn expressed by too many Spanish politicians (and Spanish Twitter users!) for Catalonia, and you will realize why Catalan independence is now polling higher than ever before: around 44% would vote in favor of an independent Catalan state, in contrast with around 28% who would vote against. A week ago, the heretofore extremely cautious Catalan president alerted, in an interview with the Financial Times, about the growing emotional divorce between Catalonia and Spain and announced plans to achieve full fiscal sovereignty.
Indeed, with the 21 billion dollars that an independent Catalonia would save in a single year, it could wipe out its entire public debt in two years and still build a new airport in Barcelona, a much needed high-speed rail line to the French border, as well as several hospitals, schools and top-rate research centers.
The Spanish government must be concerned about losing its cash cow -- and is responding by doing its best to tamp down any independence Catalonia enjoys and convince the world that the Spanish deficit is Catalonia's fault. Don't believe a word of it.
This post is co-authored by:
Germà Bel, professor of Economics, Universitat de Barcelona
Carles Boix, Robert Garrett Professor of Politics and Public Affairs, Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University
Elizabeth Castro, Publisher, Catalonia Press
Elisenda Paluzie, Dean of the School of Economics and Business, Universitat de Barcelona
We need to find ways towards a more sustainable future.
Have a look at http://sustainablefutures.info for more.
Of course all of this is moot. Catalunya could declare Independence tomorrow. Then what? To gain entry into th EU you need unanimous consent from all its members. Forget Spain, France, the UK or Italy wouldn't support Catalunya's membership because of their own secessionist issues. Where would that leave an independent Catalunya? Outside of Europe, probably using the Euro like Montenegro, without any power or control over its currency. Factor in the impact that would have on the economy and I imagine an independent Catalunya would be much poorer than it is now..
Here you are a gif showing the evolution of languages areas. Catalan is named Valencià in it, as this is an historical name in use in Valencia:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/Llengues_iberia.gif
And the Viquipèdia article about the "Resposta als catalans"
http://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resposta_als_catalans
There's no English version, for what I apologise: my English is too poor to make a proper translation.
Francesc Pons (Menorca)
Under the terms of Spanish supremacists, Catalan culture is far away from being a richness. We need to take care for our social cohesion and dignity; everybody understands it when they know our situation, but there're some people who think Spanish culture is better than Catalan so that Spanish can be imposed in Catalonia but Catalan can't.
In Balearics, using the crisis, Popular Party is trying to prevent people to use freely the own language of the Comunity. People voted them as they are the only possible choice to avoid a president from PSOE (the "crisis party"). All the oposition groups, and almost all of the greatest entities, syndicates and associations, including the Balearics University (UIB), GOB and OCB are alarmed about the Catalanophobic decisions the PP Autonomous Govern is taking -they should fight the crisis but Catalan seems to be their real enemy.
Spanish supremacists try to make people think that Catalan language is an imposition in the Catalan spoken areas. The explanation is that people think Spanish is better, therefore nobody can argue its imposition (weapons have always been their best reason -learn about the history and try to know the meaning of the own language for Catalans: the simbol of our resistance in front of French and Castillian imperialisms).
If we talk about the imposition of Catalan in Catalonia, we should start talking about the imposition of Spanish in territories where it's not the own language, but is used as the result of Castillian imperialism.
Language imposition and financial abuse are signs of colonialism. If someone made Mommy Spansligh think that Catalonia was an Ñ area, I'm sorry, it was a mistake. The greatest part of population (including people from Ñ areas) know and respect that Catalan language is the own language of Catalonia (it seems stupid, but some people don't want to realise it!), most of people respect the sovereignty of a Catalan nation, an open and inclusive culture, wich the only thing that demands to the new people who comes home is the same that we give to all other cultures: respect.
We are the ones to blame and pointing fingers is the last thing WE should do.
For those who are not familiar with what is being referred to in our comments, I will try to make a comparison to the US system. This would be something like say: the state of Pennsylvania's courts rule and then the trial is appealed at the federal level. The federal judical system overturns the verdict. And then the state of Pennsylvania refuses to enforce the verdict from the federal courts. The reason that they don't enforce it? There were only three families involved in the lawsuit. Has justice been served for these 3 families? Should verdicts be enforced based on the number of families involved in the trial?
As far as politicans go, when deciding where to send their own children, most opt for private schools. Let's take Catalonia's president, Arturo Mas...when faced with the decision, it seems that he opted for Aula a multilingual school that promotes using the child's mother tongue first.
Behind that smokescreen the people are expected to forget. Forget that die-hard secessionists are never interested in solving problems, because this would rid them of arguments for secession. Mrs Paluzie herself said in 2008: "We have to use the unfair treatment that Catalonia receives to make separatist awareness grow." Another prominent separatist a few months ago even went as far as to hope that Madrid send tanks to Catalonia, because it could win the Catalans "some sympathy".
Opportunist politicians like Catalan Premier Artur Mas are happy to make a killing with whatever argument gets them to stay in power. And staying in power for Mr Mas means being the most expensive regional premier in Spain. Mr Mas's income exceeds also that of the Spanish Premier (by several tens of thousands of euros) and even that of the King of Spain. Yet there is no public debate over it.
Hypocrisy abounds. The whole thing is quite unsavoury.
Budget cuts are also applied to the public health sector. The Catalan minister of health comes from the private health sector, and he will now cut the public health sector into neat little pieces presumably to be auctioned off bit by bit at a later stage.
I am getting more and more the feeling that the finger pointing at Madrid as the great culprit for the malaises of Catalonia is a great cover under which those who rule in Catalonia can go on with their shady businesses.
I'm not Spanish, by the way. And you, I think, are of a fascistoid mind. In other comments you have told people they cannot be Catalan if they don't change their name, or that they better leave Catalonia if they don't like certain things there.
Only add to the topics covered by article everything that refers to the process followed by Spain to boycott any attempts to international recognition of the various sports teams in Catalonia. Selections that are supported by the internationally renowned Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol, Juan Carlos Navarro, Ricky Rubio, Xavi Hernandez, Carles Puyol, Gerard Pique, Cesc Fabregas, Victor Valdes, among others.
From Catalonia, an original Catalan, not an Spanish infiltrate.