Spain's government passes new regional funding model as 15 of 17 regions vote against

The government has pushed through a new regional funding model with the backing of only two regions, while 15 voted against.

The Fiscal and Financial Policy Council was the setting for a vote that deeply divided Spain's autonomous communities. The central government managed to approve a new regional funding model, but the move was controversial: **15 of the 17 communities** under the common regime voted against it. Only the **Generalitat de Catalunya** and the **Canary Islands government** gave their approval to the proposal by Finance Minister **Arcadi España**.

This outcome highlights a significant territorial divide. Regions governed by the **PSOE** (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party), such as **Castilla-La Mancha** and **Asturias**, aligned with those led by the **PP** (People's Party) in rejecting the new system. The only exception among common-regime communities was the **Canary Islands**, which, like **Catalonia**, declared itself a beneficiary of the model. Castilla-La Mancha's finance chief, **Juan Alfonso Ruiz Molina**, even called for the proposal to be withdrawn or, failing that, for the minister to waive his casting vote.

Minister **Arcadi España** defended his handling of the process, highlighting dialogue "until exhaustion" and the wealth of information provided to the regions. He accused the **PP**-governed regions of trinc "instructions from their party leadership over their own interests", criticising the lack of a joint proposal from the party and noting that the one put forward by **Andalusia** would harm **Castilla y León**. For their part, **PP** finance chiefs such as **Andalusia's Carolina España** and **Murcia's Marisa López Aragón** reproached the minister for not accepting any of their objections. España described the model as "much better than the current one" and considered that, "setting aside the noise and fury and the political exploitation by Catalonia", it is a "reasonable" change.

## The road to Congress, another hurdle

Approval by the Fiscal and Financial Policy Council is only one step. The model must now pass through the **Congress of Deputies** (Spain's lower house of parliament), where an intense debate is expected. Minister **Arcadi España** has already warned that there it will be possible to "keep talking", but it will be Congress that has "the final say". This means that what was approved this Friday may not be the final version.

The **Generalitat de Catalunya** is pleased. Its finance chief, **Alicia Romero**, welcomed the new model, calling it "fairer and more equal" and estimating that it will bring Catalonia almost **4.7 billion euros** more per year. However, the pro-independence group **Junts** has already announced a "motion to reject the whole bill" in Congress, demanding an economic agreement similar to the Basque one, an alternative the government appears to rule out after keeping Catalonia within the common-regime model. Minister **España** has shown little openness to major changes, including the transfer of a larger share of income tax demanded by **Esquerra**.

## The strategy of absence

One of the tactics adopted by some regions was not to attend the meeting. Madrid's finance chief, **Rocío Albert**, announced her absence, proposing to other regions a boycott to prevent the quorum needed to approve items on the agenda. However, this tactic was not trinc by most of the **PP** finance chiefs, who consider it would only delay the process without stopping it, since the step is merely advisory and the final decision rests with Parliament.

The **PP**'s spokesperson in Congress, **Ester Muñoz**, defended respect for **Madrid's** decision to stay away, but insisted that what matters is that a funding system "made without the rest of Spain" is going to be voted on, with votes against from both **PP**-governed regions and some socialist ones. The president of **Castilla-La Mancha**, **Emiliano García-Page**, said he was "outraged" with the central government, calling the model "the most unsupportive, most unjust, most unequal of Spanish democracy", one that treats "those who have the most better and more generously, and those of us who have the least far worse".