A joint Spanish-Catalan commission will propose a “unique” financing scheme granting Catalonia full control over tax collection, management, and expenditure, fundamentally restructuring the region’s fiscal relationship with Madrid, according to Euractiv.
The proposal, championed by the pro-independence Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC), seeks to remove Catalonia from Spain’s centralised funding system and establish a model akin to the special fiscal regimes historically granted to the Basque Country and Navarre. This would mark Catalonia’s most significant financial devolution in decades.
Catalonia’s fiscal autonomy formed a cornerstone of ERC’s support for Socialist leader Salvador Illa’s successful bid to become regional president in 2024. However, negotiations stalled past the original 30 June deadline amid escalating corruption scandals engulfing Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE).
ERC President Oriol Junqueras emphasised the urgency on Saturday, declaring Catalonia “cannot be subordinated to the State’s Tax Agency” and warning Sánchez’s handling of the financing issue “will condition ERC’s position on many issues.”
The push occurs against a backdrop of intense political fragility. Sánchez faces multiple corruption investigations, including the pre-trial detention of his former chief aide Santos Cerdán over alleged kickbacks for public contracts. A senior official in Sánchez’s office also recently resigned over sexual harassment allegations, compounding pressure on the embattled prime minister.
Critics view the fiscal autonomy proposal as part of a pattern of concessions to secure separatist backing. In February, Madrid agreed to write off €17 billion of Catalonia’s debt as part of a broader €83 billion regional debt relief package. The main opposition Popular Party has condemned both the debt forgiveness and fiscal autonomy talks as a “political payoff” to maintain Sánchez’s parliamentary majority until the 2027 elections.
Finance Minister María Jesús Montero rejected accusations of preferential treatment, but internal tensions persist. Several PSOE lawmakers have privately expressed concern over the perceived trading of political favours, while ERC threatens to block Catalonia’s 2025 budget if financing demands remain unmet.
