The Valencian Government takes a position within the General State Budgets following the Alicante state crime incident. In a move labeled as compensation for underfunding in the 2023 budget, the council led by Ximo Puig is pushing for higher allocations to the southern part of the Valencian Community. The autonomous administration is currently in active negotiations over the next year’s accounts, aiming to offset what is viewed as a weak funding push from the national government for Alicante and Castellón.
On Friday, Rosa Pérez Garijo, minister for Regional Participation, Transparency, Cooperation and Democratic Quality and spokesperson for the Consell, replacing Aitana Mas, stated that the Generalitat will respond to the Spanish government’s budgetary concerns in the coming days. The approach, she explained, centers on two strands: first, redressing the shortfall through the region’s own budgets; second, pressing the central government to expand investments. She stressed the need for a more robust investment strategy from Madrid.
The next year’s budget, in its initial form, reflected investments totaling 160.8 million euros for the state. On Thursday, Pilar Bernabé, the Government’s delegate in the Valencian Community, indicated that with the existing amount, an additional 75 million euros would be added for Alicante due to accounting inconsistencies that had misclassified certain border-related investments as part of Valencia’s overall budget. She underscored ongoing collaboration between the central administration and the Generalitat to ensure 2023 accounts also include a series of complementary projects, potentially adding to the extra 207 million announced by Puig. Nevertheless, business leaders remained unsettled. Entities such as CEV, Ineca and the Chamber of Commerce continued their plan to protest before the Sub-Delegation of Government in Alicante and to host a Madrid press conference to express opposition to what they see as a minimal investment effort by the government in the province. The event is scheduled for October 19 at the CEOE headquarters, drawing coverage from the state’s business community.
Government cites errors in Alicante budget; business sector keeps up the pressure
When Pérez Garijo spoke after the Consell plenary session, she noted that the Valencian Government disagrees with how investments for Alicante and Castellón are distributed, arguing that most allocations remain centralized in the Valencia region. Acting as spokesperson, she urged national deputies from the Valencian Community to unite, as the Parliamentary process for the state accounts advances and there is resistance to budget allocations that only benefit a single region.
Regarding the Finance Ministry’s ongoing response to complaints from autonomous communities about the initial proposal and the need to reform the financing model, Pérez Garijo asserted that the region seeks fair financing. She explained that Consell has repeatedly stated its position: the current financing system is not adequate. The regional leadership is pursuing changes through ongoing meetings with Treasury advisors at the national level.
taxes
The councilor also defended the tax policy in the autonomous region, conditioned by a plan for reform. She rejected statements from the national leader of a major party claiming excessive financial pressure on the community. Pérez Garijo argued that tax collection is used to sustain the welfare state and supported the reform proposed by Consell, emphasizing tax progressivity and higher contributions from individuals with greater means.
She stressed that taxes have to be balanced and that the revenue figures support wealth redistribution and the financing of social policies not seen elsewhere. On reforming the system, Consell argues for lowering the burden on the lowest incomes while increasing it on higher earners. In this frame, the wealth tax applies to individuals with assets above a certain threshold, and inheritance taxes are retained to fund social programs that enable more teachers and health workers, and to push unemployment down further.
Ultimately, the administration argues that the reform is essential to fund ongoing social programs and to ensure the region can sustain critical public services. This perspective aligns with a broader strategy to improve funding fairness across all provinces, while also addressing the immediate needs of Alicante and Castellón within the national budgeting dialogue. [Attribution: Valencian Government press briefings and regional statements cited in official sources]