Ayuso criticises Sánchez for 'forcing debt forgiveness on Catalonia at gunpoint'

Isabel Díaz Ayuso, the President of the Community of Madrid, criticised on Monday the Spanish Government's intention to 'force at gunpoint' the other autonomous communities to accept the debt forgiveness for Catalonia by negotiating with those who 'undermine' the autonomous community.

'I think it is more arbitrary to impose, at gunpoint, on the rest of Spaniards to accept this unacceptable and unmanageable situation, instead of those who have caused the debt in Catalonia starting to take measures and being responsible,' the regional leader commented to journalists in Extremadura after signing a collaboration protocol with the president of this autonomous community, María Guardiola.

She made these remarks following the announcement by ERC leader Oriol Junqueras that his party has reached an agreement with the central government for the forgiveness of 22% of Catalonia's debt from the Autonomous Liquidity Fund (FLA).

Ayuso criticised Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez for deciding to negotiate with 'those who are sinking' Catalonia by forgiving debts among themselves and 'distributing the debts among the other autonomous communities as if debts could evaporate and as if they belonged only to a few.'

'Those who, with their independence movement and erratic policies, have sunk Catalonia, driven away businesses, and impoverished the middle class, have decided that debts will be forgiven,' the president reproached, following the government's plan to present this week the proposal to forgive up to 83.252 billion euros of debt for all autonomous communities to the Fiscal and Financial Policy Council.