Regional governments: Spain's prodigal sons

Catalonia, Andalusia, Asturias and the Canary Islands have voted against the proposals approved by the Council of Fiscal and Financial Policy. Their refusal is one more difficulty in their fight to meet defecit hard-to-impossible objectives set by Spain's national government for the 2013 fiscal year.

Andreu Mas-Colell voted no at the groups monthly meeting just after the Catalonian government announced that this month that it will suspend 400 million euros in payments to hospitals and assisted living centers after not asking for funds from the Regional Government Liquidity Fund. The decision seems populist (the measure could have allowed regional government policemen to receive their pay) that could be interpreted as an electoral strategy move. The CiU has lost support from the People's Party and needs to push elections forward in order to try and get an absolute majority vote. A recent state to the state for fiscal agreement as a solution to their financial problems constitutes part of a poorly-conceived and badly-managed plan to convince Catalonian citizens that it's necessary to hold elections sooner than planned in order to increase their share of power in Spain. Mas-Colell's firm rejection of the proposed measures and the news that the Junta will try to appeal them with the Tribunal Constitucional, a major court of justice in Spain, underscore their refusal to meet state-mandated objectives for fear of public outcry. In dealing with Spain surly regions, the Ministry of Finance should not only force the regions to make even more cutbacks, but also open the door for interventions that would put a stop to prodigal regions that jeopardize the state's credibility in the eyes of the ECB and the rest of the euro group.