The Government agrees to debate the ordinality of the financing requested by Catalonia.

"Ordinality must be debated within the framework of the reform of regional financing." The central government plans to propose to the other autonomous communities the financing model advocated by Catalonia. This model, the basic outlines of which are reflected in the agreement reached last Monday by the bilateral commission between the State and the Generalitat, but which avoids committing to this key principle for Catalonia's financial aspirations and which would solve one of its biggest problems: that, despite being the third largest contributor to the common fund, it ends up being the tenth largest recipient of resources for the financing of public services, resulting in a clear underfunding.

Although the ordinal nature of the agreement signed between the two governments only appears in the preamble and not in its operative section, the Government de facto assumes that this is "a proposal of the Catalan Government" to which it could not express an express commitment in the agreement because it would preclude, in advance, the necessary multilateral negotiation in the relevant forum, the Fiscal and Financial Policy Council (CPFF). Therefore, the bilateral commission was not the place to make a commitment on a financial relationship that concerns all territories and which the Catalan government unequivocally defends. The ordinal nature of the agreement must be discussed with all the autonomous regions.

This was explained yesterday by the Minister of Economy, Alícia Romero, in an interview on Catalunya Ràdio. She commented that the fact that the ordinality appears only in the preamble of the agreement between the two governments was the only way to achieve a consensus that would prevent the debate with the other regions from failing at the outset. According to Romero, the Government is willing to accept this principle, although the agreement states that it is Catalonia that defends it.

"Obviously, there's a lack of specifics," but for the Catalan government, ordinality is "essential," to the point that if it's not included in the future financing model, Catalonia "will not be there," Romero warned.

The Government considers this principle "essential" and Junts calls the signed agreement a "mockery"

Catalan government spokesperson Sílvia Paneque expressed a similar opinion after the Executive Council meeting: "The principle of ordinality, in which you give orders with respect to the other autonomous communities, requires work by the Spanish government." Therefore, "it is not a matter between governments but rather a matter of negotiation with all the autonomous communities," she explained.

This is why "it couldn't be defined" in the operative section of the agreement, "and it appears in the preamble." But in any case, "it is guaranteed," Paneque assured, and "Catalonia is determined to see it fulfilled" so that "what has happened to us doesn't happen again: while generating a certain amount of wealth, the resources that come in cause us to fall behind, and there is a mismatch in the policies we must implement."

As a result of the caution embedded in the signed agreement, which underpins the central government's public position, its spokesperson, Pilar Alegría, referred yesterday to the guiding principles of the unique financing model that do appear among the agreement's specific commitments: financial sufficiency—"that all regions receive more resources," she defined—; solidarity among all territories; fiscal co-responsibility in expenditures and revenues; and bilateral negotiations that are "absolutely compatible" with multilateralism.

Responding to criticisms of the way the financing model is intended to be modified—that is, through a prior agreement with Catalonia—Alegría endorsed the modus operandi, which ranges from singular to universal: "Yes, the formula is applicable to all autonomous communities," he concluded.

The Moncloa simply describes this financial relationship as "the Generalitat's approach."

At the same time, the spokesperson also wanted to send a message of reassurance to the territories that do not accept ordinality as one of the guiding principles of the new financing, guaranteeing that "as long as there is a progressive government in this country, there will be no privilege for some territories over others."

To avoid this, it is assumed that the State will have to put more resources on the table to balance the balance, something Alegría hinted at in her response to criticism from the People's Party (PP), which accuses the government of breaking up Spain. "What we are doing is financing it more and better every day." "What is breaking up Spain is giving tax gifts to the rich, like the PP does," retorted Second Vice President Yolanda Díaz.

The debate over ordinality is gaining momentum, especially in Catalonia, where various organizations within the Catalan economic and business community, such as the Consell de Cambras (Consell de Cambras), PIMEC (Pimec), and the Fira de Barcelona (Fira de Barcelona), among others, yesterday called for respect for this principle and for "the uniqueness and economic weight of Catalonia" to be recognized in the new system.

Among the political reactions, the secretary general of Junts, Jordi Turull, stated that his party will slam the door on the necessary legislative reforms in the Congress of Deputies because he considers the agreement "a complete joke." And the Catalan People's Party (PP) accused the central government of handing over "the tools of disengagement" to the independence movement, while the party's leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, focused yesterday on the racist incidents in Torre Pacheco, avoided giving his opinion.

A thorny debate, twelve years after Granada

Twelve years after the Granada Declaration of July 6, 2013, with which Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba reconciled the positions of the PSOE and the PSC, ordinality still arouses misgivings in sectors of Spanish socialism, who view it as a diminution of solidarity. In Granada, it was shoehorned in, considering the reference to German federalism and the Constitutional Court ruling on the Statute "advisable," "so that interterritorial contributions do not place those who contribute in a worse relative position than those who benefit."