The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and the leader of Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, Oriol Junqueras, held a discreet meeting this Friday at the Moncloa Palace that, according to knowledgeable sources, did not manage to unblock one of the main stumbling blocks in the budget negotiation: the transfer to Catalonia of the collection of personal income tax.
The meeting, advanced by La Vanguardia and confirmed by ERC to Europa Press, was held in the morning, just a few hours after Sánchez returned from his official trip to India. Junqueras had been in Madrid since Wednesday, where, in addition to meeting with his parliamentary group, he took the opportunity to personally convey his party's position to the head of the Executive.
ERC has conditioned its support for both the Generalitat Budgets and the General State Budgets on concrete advances in financing, including the transfer of Personal Income Tax (IRPF). However, the Government maintains its refusal to transfer that competence, which cools the options for moving forward with the first regional accounts with Salvador Illa at the head of the Generalitat. Therefore, the lack of agreement after the meeting in Moncloa thus complicates a scenario that until now seemed more favorable for closing a budget pact.
