From now on, the government in Barcelona, or, as it is officially called, Generalitat de Catalunya, will be able to keep in the Catalan budget more than 80% of all tax revenues collected in the province. This is a very significant part of the Spanish budget: according to statistics, more than two-thirds of the 12 million foreign tourists annually come to Catalonia, and most of Spanish industry is concentrated here.
It is hard to imagine at present how Spain will make ends meet, having lost tax revenues from Barcelona. Of course, the country will not disappear, but for now the government has no plans for how to patch the budget holes. In addition, the innovation will expand the powers of the regional cabinet in resolving issues of internal security, immigration, and others – for example, Catalonia has already independently approached the European Commission with a request for assistance in modernizing the technical equipment of the local Guardia Costal – the coast guard. In fact, only three functions remain for the central government in Madrid: foreign policy, defense, and issues of a nationwide nature. From now on, Catalans will decide everything else on their own.
Perhaps, several years ago, when the conservative government in Madrid was led by José María Aznar, Catalonia would hardly have been able to hold such a referendum, despite the fact that they had already turned for support directly to the European Union two years earlier, over the head of Madrid. They received support at the level of the European Parliament immediately – to the extent that Catalan was officially recognized as one of the so-called working languages of the EU. Practically, this means that a Catalan who writes, for example, a letter to any EU official in their native language has the right to expect a reply in the same language. A trifle, but nice. However, such "trifles" cost European taxpayers (including Catalans) about €80 million per year extra – for translators. By the way, the European Parliament, which willingly recognizes as EU working languages the dialects of so-called "linguistic minorities" – from Catalans and Gaels to Basques and Scots – refused to recognize Russian as such. And this despite the 6 million Russian-speaking residents of the European Union. However, European parliamentarians point out that those who speak Russian do not have their own enclave within the European Union, but the definition of "linguistic minority" says nothing about this criterion.
But let us return to Spain. The socialists who replaced the conservatives showed themselves to be far less resolute defenders of the privileges of the center than their predecessors. Catalonia is not the first province to decide to seek independence: a little earlier, the Basque Country received autonomy rights – there this independence manifests itself in a much more truncated form, but the Basques were quite satisfied with this small victory at first. The decision to grant independence to the Basques has already had a beneficial effect on the situation throughout Spain: the terrorist organization ETA has announced in full voice the complete cessation of hostilities and its transformation into a political party. Of course, their decision is also explained by the fact that Spanish and French law enforcement agencies have completely defeated this organization in the past year, so it has no choice but to ask for mercy. But the fact remains: in our troubled times, even one extra active terrorist is a lot, and here an entire terrorist organization is coming to terms.
Thus, Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero spoke with a light heart in favor of granting Catalonia a new status, while the conservative People's Party and the Left Republicans of Catalonia still remain opposed. Opponents of the expansion of autonomy say that it could lead to a split of the country: after all, a similar referendum is next in Galicia. However, for opponents of autonomies in Spain, hard times have now come: last Saturday, the headquarters of the Spanish ground forces launched an official investigation into the case of army general Alfredo Pardo de Santayana. The day before, the general had proposed a toast at a lunch at the military academy in Segovia, in which he mentioned the "danger of the territorial dismemberment of Spain" and proposed a toast to the head of state, King Juan Carlos, as the "guarantor of the unity of the state." General de Santayana did not have the right to speak on political topics under the law, so he will most likely face a disgraceful resignation.
Boris ALTNER.
IA Rosbalt