Spain is viable

To judge by the speeches being made at the Popular Party (PP) national convention in Seville over the weekend, Spain is about to be torn apart by the demands of increasingly out-of-control regional parties. This country is not in a "state of dissolution," nor is it being dragged toward the precipice of a "Constitutionally failed state," and it certainly isn't "unviable" or "marginal," as the former Prime Minister José María Aznar insisted during an address he made to the party faithful.

The opposition PP would be making a big mistake if it decided to make this kind of rhetoric the basis of its policies: the political and historical reality of Spain shows exactly the opposite to be true. The only viable model for Spain remains that based on giving the regions a large degree of autonomy over their affairs. Democracy and autonomy are two sides of the same coin, in the same way that centralism and dictatorship are.

For the same reasons, it is about time that the Catalan right also toned down the rhetoric. Spain is not "set against" Catalonia, as the spokesman for the northeastern region's government has charged, and there is no question of a return to a more centralized state. The election of the candidate most in favor of granting greater powers to the regions as head of the Constitutional Court, along with a multi-lingual Senate, both point to the very opposite. It is high time that Artur Mas, the current Catalan premier, stopped talking about a "point of no return" in relations between Catalonia and the rest of Spain, while Josep Duran i Lleida, a senior deputy for the CiU, would also do well to end his tirades and threats that "if Catalonia goes down, Spain goes with it." In short, there is no reason, on political or juridical grounds, to rethink this country's arrangement regarding the regions, an arrangement that is now deeply anchored within the electorate.

Responsible behavior

Instead, what is needed is to decide how a Spain of regions can best work together to find a way out of the current economic crisis. How are the regions going to meet their obligations to cut spending, obligations that have not been imposed on them by Brussels, but that they have agreed to? By responsible behavior, and by respecting the rules. The government cannot and should not abandon its role as watchdog of foreign debt. It must not allow the regions to overspend, and at the same time, it must channel money in order to improve economic competitiveness, as has happened with health spending.

The current laws governing relations between the central government and the regional administrations are fine. That said, cooperation must be increased. Regular contact is needed between them over fiscal policy, and the role of the Senate needs to be rethought. There are problems with regional spending that can only be overcome through a combination of greater cooperation, listening to the electorate and allowing market forces to operate. Resorting to decrees will only engender filibustering in Congress.

At the same time, it is only through political agreement that the regional deficit can be further reduced: from 2.3 percent last year, to 1.3 percent by the end of 2011. But there is little hope of achieving this goal unless health and education spending are cut back.