Spain’s ruling socialist (PSOE) party regained control of Catalonia’s regional government as a new cabinet led by the Catalan Socialists (PSC) was sworn in on Monday, ending over a decade of pro-independence parties’ rule in the region.
The 16-member cabinet is led by Salvador Illa, who was Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s health minister during the Covid-19 pandemic. ALSO READ: A new era in Catalonia, as socialist Salvador Illa is elected president.
‘I want to assure you that the government will govern for all, this is a real obsession,’ Illa said during the swearing-in ceremony.
The majority of the Catalan ministers are from the PSC party, but some departments will be led by members of the moderate pro-independence Esquerra Republicana (ERC) party, former members of Junts per Catalunya (JxCat), or by independent politicians.
Salvador Illa said that working on the ‘Catalan nation and the Catalan language’ will also be a priority for the new government.
This new government has added two new departments: the sports ministry and the linguistic policy ministry. In general, it follows the previous governments’ structure, although there is no vice president.
However, it is the first time since 2010 that Catalonia has a government that does not come entirely from the pro-independence camp. ALSO READ: Catalan pro-independence parties lose majority, as PSC socialists win elections.
The PSC won the most seats in a regional election in May, but fell short of a majority. Illa then secured the support of the left-wing Comuns party – part of the Sumar alliance that backs Sánchez at national level – and the ERC party to become regional leader in a vote on Thursday in Catalonia’s regional assembly. ALSO READ: Pro-independence ERC party backs socialists to form government in Catalonia.
Forming a government in Catalonia will be seen as a vindication of Sánchez’s strategy of trying to tamp down support for independence in the region by offering concessions, including a controversial amnesty for those involved in an illegal independence referendum in 2017 that triggered Spain’s worst political crisis in decades. ALSO READ: Controversial Catalan amnesty law gets final approval in Spanish Congress.
To secure the support of the ERC, the socialists vowed to grant Catalonia full control of taxes collected in the region, which has been for decades one of the main demands of pro-independence parties.
The proposal, which still must be approved by Spain’s national Congress, is opposed by the right-wing and far-right opposition, as well as some in the socialist party, who argue it will deprive the central state of a substantial revenues.
Last week’s vote was overshadowed by fugitive ex-leader Carles Puigdemont, who defied a pending arrest warrant over his role in the 2017 secession bid, to appear at a Barcelona rally after seven years of self-imposed exile, and then vanished before police could arrest him. ALSO READ: With Puigdemont back in Belgium, recriminations fly between Supreme Court and Mossos.
El denominador comú de les conselleres i els consellers que integren el Govern de la Generalitat rau en una vocació de servei públic, en la confiança per transformar des de les institucions.
Governem per a tots els catalans i les catalanes.#ElGovernDeTothom pic.twitter.com/co9j1aS0I4
— Salvador Illa Roca (@salvadorilla) August 12, 2024
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