The debt cancellation agreed with ERC, for September

The government will submit the measure to Parliament after the holidays, according to the Republicans.

Another step forward in one of the main prerogatives that ERC wrested from Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in exchange for facilitating his continued position in La Moncloa after losing the last general election.

The Republicans assured yesterday that just after the summer break, the Council of Ministers will submit to the Cortes the bill that, when approved, will allow the Generalitat and the rest of the autonomous regions to have 20% of their debt held by the Regional Liquidity Fund (FLA) forgiven.

This amount will be directly assumed by the State and amounts to €17 billion in the case of Catalonia. This amount is equivalent to 20% of its total debt. The objective of this measure is twofold: to save around €1 billion in interest to strengthen social spending, and to advance one of the objectives the Government has pursued for almost a decade: to be able to return to the markets.

It was ERC, in a statement, that made the announcement yesterday. According to its president, Oriol Junqueras , once the bill has been formally approved by the Council of Ministers , their goal is for it to be ratified by Congress "before the end of the year."

The reduction was agreed upon at the end of 2023 and formally approved at the beginning of the year by the Fiscal and Financial Policy Council (CPFF), despite the outright opposition of the PP's autonomous regions.

These same regions also reject the new "bilateral" financing model for Catalonia, the terms of which were presented in July. If progress toward a separate treasury and a change in system is not made in the coming months, the ERC will not support the 2026 General State Budget (PGE).

Junqueras also opened the door to calling an internal referendum for the membership to decide whether to maintain the parliamentary support that ERC is providing to the government led by Salvador Illa (PSC).