Really, listening to the Spanish government's spokesperson, Isabel Rodríguez García, someone who landed here after spending a long time in Catalonia would wonder how it could be that the PSOE is, literally, taking the Catalans for idiots. The former mayor of Puertollano - a place where perhaps everything is much easier for the Socialists - declared on Tuesday from the Spanish cabinet's press lectern that the deficit in the execution of public works in Catalonia is due to the pandemic as the Spanish executive has had two very difficult years in which the world stopped. I don't remember such a ridiculous statement ever - she must be from the Castilla-La Mancha school, that of her party colleague José Bono - despite the fact that in politics there are exaggerations, by all sides, almost every day. In other words, it was the coronavirus that caused only 36% of what was agreed in the 2021 Spanish government budget to be executed.
And, in response, the most logical question in the world is: was there was no Covid in Madrid, perhaps? Because the same figure that the ministry presented on Catalonia can be searched for the Community of Madrid and one finds that, there, the fulfillment of the planned investments was 184%. In other words, while in Catalonia a third of the budgeted amount was actually invested, in Madrid almost twice as much as should have been was spent. Another calculation: the difference between receiving a third and receiving almost double is a ratio of one to six. Isabel Rodríguez García must be used to not blushing and must think that it's okay to ensnare the Catalans because with what they did in 2017 the best thing they can do is shut up. If you think about it, we have a problem because they hold the purse strings and all we have is the right to throw a tantrum as it seems that no one wants to worry the Spanish government too much in case it gives more momentum towards a PP-PSOE or PP-Vox government.
Another example: a month ago, Catalan president Pere Aragonès asked Pedro Sánchez for an interview when the Catalangate revelations broke. It is reasonable to think that if you have spied on your government ally, the one who saves you in the Congress of Deputies through the votes of ERC, some gesture, no matter how small, should be made even if you don't really feel inclined. Well, no, not at the moment. And the explanation of that is also jaw-dropping: "Sánchez has a complicated agenda" and the meeting will be held "when the agendas can be found." I don't know when that will be, or if, when it is finally held, it will be worth it. What I do know is that to have such a partner, I am not sure what difference there would be under the PP, except that there would have been no partial pardons of the political prisoners by the cabinet.
Yet another. The Catalan employer associations have demanded that the Spanish government execute its incomplete investments in Catalonia without further delay. They do well to tell Pedro Sanchez because they, and if not, their members, are also harmed. PIMEC has called for better dialogue between the two administrations to resolve the blockage once and for all. As well, Foment del Treball demands the reversal of the historical deficit in investment in Catalonia that totals 35 billion euros over the last twelve years. The politicians send tweets, the employers make statements, but unfortunately neither one nor the other is of much use if, every time the Spanish prime minister comes to Catalonia he is complimented as the miraculous politician who has helped to deprive the independence movement of oxygen and turned its demands into waste paper. Because the Catalan employers groups have ensured they have a good relationship with the Spanish government and its ministers rather than and the Catalan Generalitat and its executive.
Sánchez, who does not return favours to anyone, won't be very concerned about the statements. And if you read the establishment media you will find a lukewarm and flat response from the Catalan press and an absolute silence in the matter in Madrid. A ground that has been well-prepared to do nothing. Or worse: to point to coronavirus as responsible for the lack of investment in Catalonia. And we should think ourselves lucky that Isabel Díaz Ayuso is their opponent, because if she were their ally we could forget all about even the crumbs that end up reaching us from there.