Page to Appeal to Constitutional Court Over Bank Tax Distribution

The spokesperson for the regional government of Castilla-La Mancha, Esther Padilla, announced that the Government Council will hold an extraordinary meeting this Friday to approve an appeal to the Supreme Court against the distribution of the bank tax agreed by the central government and Junts.

Padilla described the opinion of the Consultative Council of Castilla-La Mancha, which met this Thursday, as "very forceful, both in form and substance."

A resolution that coincides, as she recalled, with the legal services of the Junta de Comunidades, "who consider it unconstitutional," the regional government also explained in a statement.

As Padilla explained, the opinion "states that a decision affecting the autonomous communities cannot be made without their involvement and without amending the organic law on the financing of the communities." Furthermore, she added, "it also considers that it is against the principle of solidarity established by the Spanish Constitution."

Additionally, the regional government spokesperson rejected the distribution imposed by Junts, arguing that "logically, when a tax of this nature is created, it should be distributed among the autonomous communities based on their needs. However," she recounted, "it has been agreed to give more to the wealthier communities, which is also challengeable according to the Consultative Council."

In another matter, when asked about the central government's agreement with Junts to distribute among the autonomous communities the minors currently in the Canary Islands, the regional government spokesperson made it clear that the regional president, Emiliano García-Page, "from the very beginning has said they will be supportive, as they have been for years and will continue to be."

In fact, she recalled that the president recently visited the Canary Islands and conveyed to the Canary government that "they could count on them." "And, moreover, we want to do it in the best way possible, which is by following European Union standards and not crowding or cramming children, as they wanted to do at Ciudad Real airport, which we managed to stop," she confronted.

MORE RESOURCES TO HOST MINORS

On this issue, the councillor emphasized that "it's not about saying they are children and treating them carelessly," stating that a measure of this nature requires sufficient funding to, if necessary, set up resources to accommodate these children." Therefore, she took the opportunity to state that she had not heard anyone "refute that negotiating a solidarity issue with someone who is against solidarity, like Junts, is at least questionable."

Finally, the spokesperson pointed out that "the PP and Vox pact in the Valencian Community, which criminalizes immigrant children, is as obscene as the agreement and imposition of Junts with the Government of Spain, which says it wants to expel immigrants and does not want more immigrants to go to Catalonia."

At this point, she reiterated the defense of solidarity made from Castilla-La Mancha "to ensure an equal distribution among the autonomous communities" and called for coherence, stating that "if you criticize PP and Vox, you must criticize Junts and this agreement with the same intensity, as it seems truly shameful."