First interview of the new president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, on Catalan public television. The socialist leader has outlined this Monday, in an hour-long conversation with the journalist Ariadna Oltra, the main lines of his mandate, he has directly asked the judges to apply the amnesty law to all those accused of the procés and has reaffirmed his commitment to comply with the investiture agreements agreed both with Esquerra and with the Comuns. “If it is implemented, the singular financing agreement is here to stay,” said the president, recalling how in the past similar debates have been addressed in a singular manner and, despite some opposition, have ended up receiving approval. Illa has also announced that on Tuesday he will reactivate the technical commission between the Government and the Generalitat that studies the expansion of El Prat airport.
One of the great unknowns about the agreement between Republicans and Socialists is the possibility that the unique financing model for Catalonia can endure despite the change of political colour in the Governments. Illa has defended its content and praised “its federal horizon”. “There have been different [modelos de financiación]they have been negotiated, there has always been a bilateral negotiation that ends up being ratified in other bodies and what has always been agreed has been maintained,” he recalled. president. “If implemented, the single financing agreement is here to stay,” he said.
Illa has called for calm in the debate on the implementation of financing. “I will not contribute to the noise,” he said, referring to the harsh tone used by the PP and some socialist leaders, who do not agree with the modification of the common financing regime that would imply complying with the pact between PSC and ERC. “Here I hope that all parties will help. I want to know if they agree on improving financing and being constructive and have a certain long-term vision,” he said in an indirect message to Junts per Catalunya.
The head of the Government has also announced that the 2025 accounts that are already being prepared by the Minister of Economy, Alícia Romero, will include the necessary resources to expand the Tax Agency of Catalonia and thus be able to take on the challenge of collecting personal income tax in 2026. On several occasions, Illa has stressed his willingness to comply with the agreements signed with both the Republicans and the Commons.
From the Gothic Room of the Palau de la Generalitat, Illa answered the questions of the TV3 journalist, in his first institutional interview with a public media outlet. The socialist also took the opportunity to announce that this Tuesday he will reactivate the technical commission that is studying the expansion of El Prat airport. The president said that he hopes that the technicians will calmly debate the best proposals so that this infrastructure can receive larger aircraft, although with the utmost environmental rigor. “We cannot have this issue dormant or set aside,” he stressed.
Illa has also announced that he will meet with the promoters of the Hard Rock mega-casino project to tell them that there will be no tax reductions for the initiative. The socialist has argued that at the time when they were agreed, the economic situation was very different and that he has yielded to his investiture partners on that point. If he does not continue with that project, he added, any other interested party must also take into account that they will not be given similar benefits.
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Finally, the President of Catalonia referred to the application of the amnesty law. “I ask that the judicial sphere respect a law that is explicit in what it asks for,” he said. There can be no “subterfuges” to apply it, he explained, because it is “constitutional.”
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