Redefining Provincial Councils has wide support in Catalonia

Barcelona (ACN).- The Spanish Socialist Party’s candidate to Prime Minister in the next November elections, Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, stated last Tuesday that the Provincial Councils, as they are currently known, are not useful. They are “a structure from the 19^th century” that “needs to be re-thought”, he said. “If they want to continue doing what they are currently doing […] there is no need for them” he stated. His words resonated differently within Catalonia compared to the rest of Spain. In other parts of Spain, members from the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE), mostly from Andalucía where the PSOE continues controlling the Provincial Councils, vindicated the need of keeping them. In addition, the main opposition party, the People’s Party (PP) that got the control of many Provincial Councils throughout Spain last May, criticised Rubalcaba for announcing his intention to suppress them now that the PP controls most of them. However, in Catalonia, Rubalcaba’s words found a positive acceptance, since there has been an historical claim to abandon the provincial division and modify the Provincial Councils. The Catalan Government, which is run by the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU), is also inclined towards changing the current Provincial Councils.

In this sense, the Vice President of the Catalan Government, Joana Ortega, coincided with Rubalcaba in the need to redefine these public administrations. “A more efficient, effective, less bureaucratic and less expensive administration is needed”, she stressed. Ortega explained that the Provincial Councils should be suppressed, as County Councils already exist in Catalonia. In addition, she said that County Councils of Barcelona Metropolitan Area should also be eliminated, as Metropolitan-level bodies already exist. Ortega said that she wished Rubalcaba had thought this four years ago and to continue thinking of it after next November elections, “since the Spanish State has always ignored the claims [from the Catalan Government] to modify the provincial borders and the administration at this level”.

However, Ortega said that Rubalcaba is now announcing this idea to adapt his public profile, distancing himself from the current Spanish Government, in which he contributed as Vice President and Minister for Home Affairs. One could say that Rubalcaba was in reality answering with yesterday’s announcement one of the demands of the protesters occupying Spanish squares last May and June, to simplify politics and public administration.

The Leader of the Opposition in Catalonia, Joaquim Nadal, from the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) also reacted to Rubalcaba’s words. Nadal stated that the Provincial Councils should be suppressed and their powers and funds devolved to municipalities, as “a very important part of their funding comes from and goes to local governments”. Another option would be that “other supra-national bodies receive those powers and funds”, nevertheless he said that “if this has to complicate things, […] let’s make so that municipalities have more money and let’s be practical about it”. Moreover, Nadal wanted to underline that no one has been never able to suppress the Provincial Councils in Catalonia or the rest of Spain.

The Provincial Councils, an old division

Spain is divided into 50 provinces. The current division is from 1833, but it dates back to the 18^th century, inspired by France’s prefectures but larger and artificially decided. The provincial division was made to suppress the pluri-national nature of Spain by eliminating existing national and regional divisions within Spain. Provinces were the only accepted division in a highly centralised Spanish State during the 18^th, 19^th and most of the 20^th centuries. With the decentralisation of the State and the creation of the Autonomous Communities, the Provincial Councils lost most of their sense. Nowadays in Spain there are 3 basic levels of government: the Spanish State, the Autonomous Communities and the municipalities. The Provincial Councils are between the second and the third level, between the local and the regional level. Currently they work as a supra-municipal council, in charge of environmental, cultural, and welfare policies. However their large scope and old-fashioned structure meant that other supra-municipal bodies were created, which were more adapted to the concrete needs of specific municipalities, working for instance on waste collection or public transport. This is the case for example of the Barcelona Transport Metropolitan Authority, grouping the municipalities of Barcelona's Metropolitan Area and overseeing the public transportation systems, that have been planned whilst taking into account the needs of other areas, not just the needs of the Barcelona municipality.

Catalonia has also the County Councils

On top of this, in Catalonia, another level of Government was created to counter-act the Provincial Councils, although with a very limited scope and powers. The Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist coalition created in the 1980s the County Councils, corresponding to a territory much smaller than the provincial councils and grouping a few municipalities. The aim was that County Councils would work as the actual supra-municipal bodies in Catalonia. However, their effectiveness is uneven. In some counties they have really made a difference, but not everywhere.

Earlier plans to modify the Provincial Councils

The last Catalan Government, run by a Left-Wing Coalition, wanted to modify the current provinces in Catalonia, in order to create a geographical and administrative division which was less artificial and more connected with the geographical, cultural and municipal realities. The plan was to evolve, from the 4 large provinces created in the 18^th century, to 7 or 8 smaller provinces, which would be called “vegueries”. The old Provincial Councils would be deleted and replaced by the “Vegueries” Councils. The plan also foresaw redefining the County Councils and the rest of supranational bodies, in order to avoid redundancies and ensure that the best adapted administration deals with specific policies and issues. However, due to the financial crisis and the change of Government in Catalonia, the plan has been put aside.