Preferential treatment

Catalan separatists received their latest gift from the Spanish government this week. In return for backing the Socialist candidate Illa Salvador's successful bid for the regional presidency last year, the pro-independence ERC has extracted a tentative promise from Pedro Sánchez to let Catalonia collect its own income tax from as early as 2026.

According to Ángel Víctor Torres, Spain's minister for territorial policy and democratic memory (the latter half of whose job title sounds very Orwellian), the proposed new financing model "takes into account the distinct features of each region", despite having been designed with the "unique characteristics and needs of Catalonia" in mind. Whichever is true (because it can't be both), the new arrangement would be a major concession to Catalan separatists, whose ultimate goal, short of independence itself, is for the regional government to collect all its own taxes.

Like many of the Socialist-led coalition's proposals, this one is a long way from becoming reality. Described by Catalan ministers as a "paradigm shift" in financing arrangements between Spain's central government and autonomous regions, the new model would require changes to the law. These would have to be approved by congress, which is unlikely. Opposition parties would probably block the measure, seeing it as yet another instance of preferential treatment for Catalonia, designed to keep Socialists in powerful positions.

Though the new proposal would radically alter Spain's regional financing models, it is the result of secretive talks between just two parties. Both the Socialists and the ERC fall far short of majorities in the national and Catalan parliaments. Neither side has consulted the governments of any other region on this proposal, which somewhat undermines their claim that it isn't just for Catalonia. As with the amnesty law, the primary aim is to ensure that a Socialist retains or is elevated to power - Sánchez in the first case, Illa in the second.

This week, the EU Commission raised concerns about the Catalan amnesties before the European Court of Justice. Because the amnesty law was "part of a government investiture agreement", the Commission claimed that it "does not seem to pursue an objective of general interest". The same can be said of the latest concession to secessionists.

The new financing idea is further proof of what one might charitably call Sánchez's ideological flexibility. Though he once claimed to be a staunch unionist, he is now granting concessions to separatists at such a rate that there's almost no need for them to pursue independence. They'll soon have all the perks of a Republic anyway. It also shows the extent to which separatists - without representing the majority of Catalans, let alone Spaniards - are influencing national policy. If their collusion with a prime minister unencumbered by principle is not considered a threat to democracy, it's hard to see what could be.