The Valencian Community, at the tail end of executed investment

The president of the Generalitat Valenciana, Carlos Mazón, has launched this week to celebrate the first anniversary of the elections in which the PP, with the support of Vox, wrested the regional government from the progressive left (socialists, Compromís and Podem) that formed the Botànic. Mazón’s mouth filled with pride for “the change” and he took stock of what had been achieved. There have been many words and speeches but the data reflects how the Valencian administration is the autonomous administration that has executed the least investment budget during the first quarter of the year. This is indicated by the information published by the Ministry of Finance on budget execution, which indicates that, of chapter six, which corresponds to real investments, the Generalitat has only spent 5.7 million of the 1,700 expected in the accounts for the entire year. This represents a percentage of 0.33% of the real investments executed in these three months, a figure very far from the 5% of the average execution of the autonomous communities.

Above this percentage, Andalusia stands out, which has already executed 13.40% of the investments budgeted for the entire year. Murcia and Castilla y León follow with rates that exceed 7%. There is not a single autonomy that has compromised, percentage-wise, less than the Valencian one. Only Extremadura comes close with an expenditure of 1.33% of the investments planned for 2024.

The data published by the ministry are provided by each Treasury department of the autonomous administrations themselves and these indicate that, despite the low amount committed for expenses, the Generalitat is not among the best payers either. While the average execution of payments on these recognized obligations is 64.1%, the Valencian Community remains at 57.09%. Madrid, for example, has invested, so far, only 3.98% of its budget but is the best payer since it has already paid 98.14% of what was committed.

The ministry itself states in an explanatory note that the Generalitat is implementing a new computer system and that some data could be outdated. However, in the segregated information published by the Generalitat itself, it is perceived that there are departments with data more in line with what the execution should be after a quarter and others that are far behind. This information thus supports paralysis and not only in investment. In the overall budget (which in addition to investments includes personnel expenses, transfers and financial expenses, among others) in half of the ministries the overall execution does not reach 10%, after four months, since the Generalitat offers the data to April 30 from Friday. The data indicate that the investment effort has increased somewhat in this last month, from 0.33 to 2.87%. The worst is the department that drives the economy and supports companies, such as Innovation, Industry and Commerce , with only 4.02%.

This was one of the reproaches, this Thursday in Parliament, from the socialist spokesperson, José Muñoz, to Mazón himself after the celebration that the PP organized on the 28th. “Stop partying and get to work,” he suggested. A year ago, with the Botànic Government, the execution of the investment chapter was 6.88% of a total budget greater than the current one. Thus, the progressive Consell, as of April 30, had executed 2.6 times more, or 158% more than the Executive of the PP and Vox.

Mazón’s response, as a balance, was given over two interventions. In them he spoke about the elimination of taxes, the elimination of the tourist tax and the approval of tax relief, measures that represent a decrease in income in public coffers. In Health, he spoke of the exit from the “collapse” and the reduction of priority 1 waiting lists (those that require intervention within a maximum period of 30 days) by 52% and a budgeted mental health plan, which still has not been implemented. Despite this, the execution of the investments planned by Health, as the Generalitat itself admits as of April 30, is 0.49%, that is, it has only committed to spending 2.8 million.

Carlos Mazón also spoke in the Cortes about several committees, the regional cooperation committee and the one that has to design a shock plan for Ford, both without funding, and the commitment to research with an agreement to attract talent (6.2 million of euros more per year for salaries). In Education, he mentioned as a notable measure in the balance the approval of free education from zero to three years, which for the moment has not involved any expense, and “educational freedom.” The only investment that he mentioned in the first of his interventions was that of an award of a section of the Júcar-Vinalopó post-transfer, for 33 million euros. When he spoke again he only managed to say “we are making progress in investments.”

Mazón’s agenda is always full. This week he went to the presentation of the group stage of the Davis Cup final, to the lunch organized by the Xirivella City Council on the occasion of the Gent Major Week, to the tribute to the 181 professionals who finished their professional work last year in La Fe, where he started singing, and met with the association of friends of Corpus Christi and also with the president of the Valencian Institute for the study of business familiar. The president of the Generalitat has no qualms about intervening to talk about gratitude and promises and, above all, demands. Because if something fills Carlos Mazón’s interventions, it is the requests and reproaches to the Government of Pedro Sánchez. “We are no longer silent,” he said this week, despite his complaints with the same complaints as when he was in the opposition.

The leader of the PP speaks, in this evaluation of his first victorious year, of the five legislative proposals presented by PP and Vox as a symbol of compliance with the “program of change.” They are the rules on the so-called “educational freedom”, which will regulate the regional television À Punt, the Transparency law, the Concord law, which will replace the Historical Memory law, and the Anti-fraud law. At the moment, it is not known if they will require investment.

Vox’s spokesperson in the Cortes, José María Llanos, also came to the fore on Thursday to defend the management in the departments given to them by the PP: Culture, Agriculture and Justice. The investment executed in these ministries is 2.13% in the case of Culture, 0% in Agriculture and 7.28% in Justice.