Spain to consider Catalan autonomy proposal
Spanish and Catalan leaders said today that power over collecting taxes is shaping up as their biggest dispute as they digest a divisive proposal to give the north-east region much greater autonomy.
Meanwhile, Basque leaders – who are also seeking more self-rule for their region – weighed in, wondering why their blueprint for more say over their own affairs was voted down in parliament earlier this year.
“Why ‘yes’ to Catalonia and ‘no’ to the Basque region?” Basque regional President Juan Jose Ibarretxe said.
Spain’s parliament agreed early this morning to take up the Catalan blueprint for formal consideration, sending it to the committee stage in a process that might take severalmonths.
It has infuriated conservatives who say it might lead to the break-up of Spain.
The proposed new Catalan charter also seeks to give the Barcelona government power to change laws passed by the Spanish parliament and a status of peer in its dealings with the Spanish government. It would also give the Catalan region exclusive say over areas ranging from culture to immigration to airports.
But both sides say money is the main point of disagreement.
The Catalan plan calls for the region around Barcelona to raise and spend its own taxes. But in a debate yesterday at the Congress of Deputies, the lower chamber of parliament, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said the Spanish state must retain its power to raise revenue around the country.
“I am convinced that the toughest battle, the core of the negotiations that will take place in congress, will be the system of financing,” said Joan Puigcercos, a leader of a Catalan nationalist party that helped write the plan.
Spanish Industry Minister Jose Montilla, who is from Catalonia, agreed that money “will be the issue that causes the most problems.”
The early morning vote, with 197 votes in favour and 146 against, followed more than 10 hours of intense debate.
Only the conservative Popular Party voted against the proposal, arguing that it put Spain on a path to dissolution.
Zapatero said he was willing to negotiate the proposals, adding that the wealthy region has a constitutional right to seek more self-rule.
He did not mention the fact that the Basque region and neighbouring Navarra already have their own tax-collecting mechanisms, which stem from special rights that both regions enjoyed as far back as the times of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabelle in the 15th century.
