The president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, has focused the start of his term on the housing crisis and has promised before Parliament a colossal investment to build public housing, with 1.1 billion annually. According to their calculations, this figure would allow the Generalitat to obtain up to 50,000 new public addresses in the year 2030, which will represent a very important boost in the Catalan public park. The figure is, in fact, very similar to the one agreed with the Comuns in the agreement for Illa’s investiture.
This is, as the president explained, the “largest mobilization of public resources ever made by an autonomous community in terms of housing”, which would place Catalonia as a benchmark in this matter. In addition, it would be accompanied by a reserve of public land to make available to municipalities, a new boost to public-private collaboration and more aid for access to housing.
“The current housing situation is unsustainable. Access to housing, especially for young people, is a country’s duty. We all have to move from words to actions, the Government first,” Illa assured, in a speech at the beginning of the general policy debate in the Parliament, very focused on economic issues.
The debate on housing is one of the hot topics, not only in Catalonia, due to the increase in rental prices and the difficulties in accessing mortgages. The Government of Illa itself has offered this Tuesday the updated data on the application of the housing law in the community, where a reduction in the rental price has been registered for the first time in almost three years in those municipalities where it has been applied.
A “stable and predictable” Government
Faithful to his tone that opposes surprises, Illa has claimed before the Chamber that his will be a government that will have stability and predictability as its maximum motto. “The Government that I preside over is pro-prosperity,” he illustrated, “we will ensure that there are the conditions for prosperity to exist and for it to be shared.” Some conditions among which the socialist has cited respect for institutions and an attitude of collaboration with all parties.
Along the same lines, Illa has charged against the “sterile confrontation”, in reference to the stage of the process. As he has defended, Catalonia will do better thinking about the shared possibilities it has with Spain.
Illa has also referred to the defense of public services, in a week in which he presented the law that aims to end mandatory prior appointments in citizen services. The head of the Government has also referred to education, health, police work and water policies as other areas in which he will pay special attention, also investing, throughout the first year of his mandate.
“The proposals of this Government are aligned with the Draghi report,” assured Illa, who however has cited only in the sectoral part the industrial commitment and the green economy. The president has assured that his commitment is to the “improvement” – he has avoided the word expansion – of the El Prat airport, one of the most controversial issues that will be on the table. “The dichotomy between sustainability and progress is wrong, they must go hand in hand,” he considered.
Commitment to the pacts and criticism of the opposition
From the president’s office they have been highlighting in recent days that this Tuesday would be the third time that Illa appeared before the plenary session, in only eight weeks that he has been president. In this way they highlight Illa’s awareness that hers is a minority government that will need parliamentary consensus to move forward. During his appearance, Illa has also shown his willingness to comply with the agreements reached with both the Comuns and ERC for his investiture.
“There will be new financing for Catalonia in the terms agreed with ERC and with the calendar agreed with ERC,” Illa promised, who referred, without citing anyone in particular, to those who sow doubts about the credibility of the agreement. “That will happen,” he reiterated, although he acknowledged that “it will not be easy.” “It will be easier if we have broad support from this chamber, which I explicitly demand,” he concluded.
This has not been enough, however, for ERC to make a positive assessment of Illa’s speech. On the contrary, Republican spokesperson Marta Vilalta has accused Illa of delivering a predictable and unambitious speech. “It seems more like an agency of the central government than a government that is excited about the country,” he assured, after calling the socialist “gray.” “It is essential that you ground your commitments in reality, because the country does not live on kind words or outstretched hands,” he assured.
Mònica Sales, from Junts, made a similar assessment when she attacked Illa for announcing measures that, in her opinion, lack credibility. The Junts spokesperson has given the example of the announcement of the new housing stock to ensure that it is reminiscent of the large numbers that Sánchez offers and which, she has criticized, never come to fruition.
The PP, for its part, has claimed to be “the only opposition”, due to the pacts of the PSC and PSOE with the rest of the formations in both the Parliament and Congress. The spokesman for the conservatives, Juan Fernández, has accused Illa of “copying and pasting” the proposals of the independence supporters and of being “directly responsible” for bringing the process to Spain.
Source: www.eldiario.es
