PP Pledges to Restore Central State Presence in Basque Country and Catalonia
Alberto Núñez Feijóo promises a national audit and reinforcement plan within six months.
1National Presence Plan
Alberto Núñez Feijóo has announced a National Presence Plan to restore central government influence in the Basque Country, Catalonia, and Navarre. If elected, his administration will conduct a comprehensive audit within the first six months to identify areas where state administrative presence has significantly weakened or disappeared over recent years.
2Audit and Infrastructure
The proposed audit will examine offices, staffing levels, and physical installations across provinces and cities. The PP intends to rehabilitate police stations and military barracks while filling vacant positions. By incentivizing difficult-to-fill destinations, the government aims to strengthen sub-delegations and ensure the central administration maintains a visible, functional role nationwide.
3Protecting Fiscal Unity
A core pillar of the PP program is legally shielding the single Social Security box. This measure prevents the fragmentation of resources by territory, ensuring that contributions continue to fund pensions and benefits across all of Spain. The party also commits to maintaining the absolute unity of the national Tax Agency.
4Context of Transfers
The Basque Country, Catalonia, and Navarre have received over 75% of all competency transfers since Pedro Sánchez took office. Over the last eight years, nearly 50 transfers have occurred, including management of the Minimum Vital Income and various transport sectors, which the PP views as a systematic withdrawal of the state.
5Security and Law Enforcement
Security forces face significant challenges, with the Civil Guard losing 12% of its personnel in Catalonia since 2017, totaling approximately 600 fewer agents. The PP platform emphasizes reversing this trend, specifically addressing the symbolic and operational importance of maintaining national police headquarters, such as the Via Laietana facility in Barcelona.
6Legal and Constitutional Defense
To uphold constitutional order, the PP plans to reintroduce the crime of sedition and the illegal calling of referendums into the Penal Code. The party asserts that while political ideas are democratic, no project stands above the law, signaling a shift toward stricter legal enforcement regarding regional autonomy and national unity.
7Historical Political Debate
The PSOE defends current decentralization, noting that previous PP administrations under Rajoy, Aznar, and Zapatero also facilitated numerous competency transfers. Sánchez argues that these concessions have not weakened Spain or corrupted democracy, framing the current state structure as a legitimate evolution of the country's decentralized political system and governance model.
8Strategic Rationale
Sociologist Luis Miller argues that central state presence is essential to reduce territorial disparities and ensure convergence. By maintaining a strong administrative footprint, the central government can better protect all citizens and intervene effectively when necessary to restore legal order, as seen during the 2017 crisis in the Catalan region.