Barcelona's Catalan government is facing a major education crisis, marked by a widespread teachers' strike, as it reaches its second anniversary in power. The strike, called by four critical trade unions representing the majority of public school and institute staff, coincides with the two-year milestone of the 2024 Catalan elections, according to VilaWeb Feed.
The executive's strategy to divide unions by signing an agreement with CCOO and UGT failed. The crisis has also drawn in the Interior Department following an alleged scandal involving two police officers infiltrating a teachers' assembly. This development has moved the conflict beyond the Education Department, significantly impacting Interior.
Crucially for President Salvador Illa, the situation has made his parliamentary partners, ERC and Comuns, uncomfortable. Both parties have called for the dismissal of police director Josep Lluís Trapero, a key figure in Núria Parlon's department. This scandal adds to the controversy surrounding a pilot programme to send plainclothes Mossos d'Esquadra officers into schools and institutes to reduce conflict.
Illa appears to remember ERC's support for former minister Josep Gonzàlez-Cambray during difficult times. However, protecting minister Esther Niubó could be costly for ERC, given the education sector's sensitivity to their potential electorate. Despite this, ERC and Comuns have separated their demands for Trapero's resignation from budget negotiations. Budget discussions are progressing and are expected to conclude next week.
Political Alliances and Budget Challenges
Two years ago, the elections fractured pro-independence political alliances and propelled the PSC to the presidency of the Generalitat. Salvador Illa's investiture secured a one-seat majority, just enough to support the alliance between PSC, ERC, and Comuns. This occurred as ERC, having suffered a significant electoral decline and undergoing a complex internal congress, needed to avoid a repeat election at all costs.
ERC initially conditioned the investiture on an agreement for fiscal sovereignty, though the pact's wording only specified the transfer of income tax collection and management. This demand has since been set aside as a non-negotiable condition due to the PSOE's reluctance. ERC now proposes the orbital railway line and a commercial company linked to the infrastructure consortium proposal, hoping for an additional agreement as a trade-off to approve what are likely to be the legislature's first and only budgets. According to El Periódico, these agreements would be finalised in a bilateral commission meeting between the two governments. The first step will be for the budgets and accompanying bill to return to the executive council and then be resubmitted to parliament.
After withdrawing a budget already in parliamentary process, Illa only needed to wait for Sunday's elections in Andalusia to finalise the agreement with ERC. However, the government has again stumbled with management and political miscalculations in the education crisis, despite promoting good governance. Illa, who aimed to move past the independence process, has instead faced political crises that highlight the shortcomings of insufficient self-governance.
Infrastructure and Fiscal Deficit
The first major crisis involved the Rodalies commuter rail service, a result of historical underinvestment by the Spanish state. The train service collapsed, prompting the Spanish government to urgently repair critical points after a fatal accident in Gelida caused by a landslide. Minister and spokesperson Sílvia Paneque, who also oversees housing and the implementation of Illa's autumn promise to build 200,000 new public and private homes, was particularly affected.
The education crisis is also linked to these issues. Teachers' demands include a lack of resources, calls for salary improvements, and insufficient investment in staff to enable inclusion and reduce class sizes, among other requests. Both crises are deeply connected to the fiscal deficit and a lack of sovereignty and own resources. However, the PSC has consistently avoided any tension with the PSOE, instead highlighting its connections with Moncloa as the best way to overcome accumulated grievances.
ERC's strategy to improve self-governance through pacts with the PSC and PSOE has so far met with resistance from Madrid. Examples include limitations on the Rodalies transfer, the refusal to transfer income tax, and the rejection of decentralising airport management. Furthermore, the Spanish socialists' and Sumar's precarious parliamentary position does not guarantee that agreements with the PSC and PSOE will be honoured. The infrastructure investment consortium faced a veto in the Spanish congress, although plans are to revive its commercial company, which would depend on the Spanish government. This vote was important not just for the consortium itself, but for future developments. The agreed improvement to the funding system is unlikely to pass parliament without a change of script and eventual approval from Junts. Finance Minister Arcadi España still needs to convene the Fiscal and Financial Policy Council to present the model and specify legislative reforms.
Parliamentary Dynamics and Opposition
Illa has tried to apply the same tactic as Pedro Sánchez in parliament: polarisation with the far-right, including Vox and Aliança Catalana. He has done this by using the democratic anomaly of Carles Puigdemont and Oriol Junqueras, the main leaders of Junts and ERC, remaining disqualified and unable to participate in parliamentary discussions. This situation particularly affects Junts, which acts as the main opposition party without its leader having a media presence comparable to other political figures, and in a context where some of its former votes might shift to Aliança.
Albert Batet's replacement as parliamentary group president, and the promotion of Mònica Sales and Salvador Vergés as parliamentary spokespersons, have not resolved the party's situation, with general secretary Jordi Turull also disqualified. Junts, however, shifted its political focus to Madrid, trying to use the PSOE's dependence, until talks broke down due to a lack of progress and non-compliance.
Over the past two years, Illa has benefited from Junts' difficulty in mounting effective parliamentary opposition. ERC and Comuns have supported him with credit supplements, and from next week, the circle will close with the final push for the budgets, expected to gain parliamentary approval in July. So far, the government has adopted ERC and Comuns' proposals as its own, making them central to its actions. It remains to be seen whether, with the budget secured, it will address key debates for its own political space that are uncomfortable for its partners, such as the expansion of El Prat airport.
