Junts per Catalunya and Comuns criticised President Salvador Illa’s assessment of his first two years leading the Generalitat, Catalonia’s regional government, after his speech on Monday 14 September at Barcelona’s Museu Marítim. For Rodalies commuter rail passengers, families facing financial pressure and young people unable to find housing, the opposition parties said the address did not reflect daily conditions.

In the address, entitled The Future Is Here, Illa said his government had focused on education, infrastructure, access to housing, forests and a new regional funding model. 3CatInfo’s coverage of the speech reported that he defended investment in areas which, he said, had not previously received sufficient resources or priority.

Junts cites housing, rail and public services

Mònica Sales, Junts’ parliamentary leader, said Illa had focused on the next decade to conceal what she called failures during his two years in office. Her remarks were released by the party and reported by VilaWeb.

“He talks about managing the next decade to cover up the incompetence of the management of these two years. The reality of day-to-day life is different.”

Sales said Junts’ assessment centred on:

  • young people unable to access housing;
  • train services that do not work reliably;
  • families struggling to make ends meet;
  • overstretched public services; and
  • what she described as a decline in the use of Catalan.

She said Illa was leading Catalonia towards being “a second-rate country”, while Junts was working to restore “self-esteem and hope”.

Comuns questions airport expansion

Jéssica Albiach, Comuns’ parliamentary leader, called Illa’s address “triumphalist” in messages posted on X. She said the president had not addressed what she called the daily problems on Rodalies, the rail network used by Barcelona-area commuters, or child poverty.

Albiach also criticised Illa’s support for expanding El Prat airport, Barcelona’s main airport, alongside his comments on climate change.

“We have lived through the hottest summer of our lives, says the president. Of course, and that is why he repeats his wish to expand El Prat airport. Incredible.”

Illa’s 14 September address included infrastructure and housing among the priorities he said his government was pursuing.

Reported by vilaweb.cat, barna.news, 3CatInfo, VilaWeb Feed.