Budget Presentation: A Strategic Delay
The Lleida city council, led by the PSC, has announced that the budgets for 2025 will be presented during the first half of January, a decision confirmed by Carme Valls, fourth deputy mayor, in a recent conversation on Ua1 Lleida Ràdio. This delay contrasts with the previous year, when the accounts for 2024 were made public at the end of December.
A Complex Negotiation Process
Valls explained that the team is finalizing the budget proposal, but stressed that no presentation will be made this December. In recent meetings with unions and other labor representatives, the list of jobs (RLT) and the planned modifications to the City Council staff have been put on the table. ‘We will give the unions 10 days to analyze the proposal before continuing with the budget,’ he said.
Impact of Delay in Execution
According to Valls, the delay in presenting the budgets could mean that changes that were due to occur in January will be moved to February. This situation has generated an intense debate during the discussion, with ERC councillor Juanjo Falcó expressing his concern about the delay and its impact on the effective execution of the budgets.
Political Tensions Between Socialists and Republicans
The interaction between Valls and Falcó was marked by a certain hostility, reflecting the current tensions between the PSC and ERC in Lleida. Falcó criticized that the failure to approve the budgets by the end of the year indicates a lack of political support, stating that ‘approving the budgets later implies less time for their execution’.
The Responses of the Opposition Parties
Junts councillor Sergi Grimau expressed that the most desirable thing would have been to present the budgets in November, acknowledging the complications that their late execution could entail. The discussion continued with Valls accusing ERC of a lack of collaboration, to which Falcó responded with a defensive tone, pointing out that they had not been called to the negotiation.
The PP Offensive for Negotiation
On the other hand, Xavier Palau, spokesman for the PP in the Paeria, has expressed his willingness to collaborate with the municipal government to approve the 2025 budget. Palau has announced that he will present a document with 62 proposals for negotiation, with a focus on the revitalization of the historic center and improving security, among others.
Future Expectations
Despite his predisposition, Palau has lamented the lack of initiatives on the part of the PSC, highlighting that so far they have only held ‘informal conversations’ with Larrosa. This scenario reveals a complex political panorama, with the need to build bridges to advance in the development of the municipal budget.
