Former Catalan president José Montilla said on Friday that the 2006 Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia is still relevant, describing it as a key framework for Catalan self-government and arguing that its approval bore “a socialist stamp”.

His remarks matter for readers because the Statute remains the legal basis for many powers exercised by Catalan institutions, from the Parliament to the Generalitat, Catalonia’s regional government. Montilla’s intervention also revisits how the text was negotiated, approved and defended during a period that still shapes Catalan politics.

“Self-governance bears a socialist stamp.”

According to Europa Press in Barcelona, Montilla defended the continued validity of the Statute and linked its development directly to the role played by the socialists in 2006.

What Montilla said about the Statute

Montilla’s argument is consistent with positions he set out during the original negotiations on the reform of the Estatut, the Catalan Statute of Autonomy. In January 2006, while serving as first secretary of the PSC, the Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya, and as Spain’s industry minister, he said there would be a “final offer” from the PSOE, the Partido Socialista Obrero Español, with “important advances” on issues including financing, according to Cadena SER.

At that stage, he urged Catalan parties to “move” and take a position on the overall text and on financing. Cadena SER reported on 17 January 2006 that Montilla said the Spanish socialists had already put a written proposal on the table and that Catalan parties now had to respond.

Days later, during the talks that produced a wider agreement, reporting by El Mundo said the negotiated text would place the idea of Catalonia as a “nation” in the preamble rather than in the articles. The same report said the wording sought to reconcile what Montilla described as “the feeling of the Catalan people as a nation” with respect for the Spanish Constitution.

  • Cadena SER dated Montilla’s remarks on the PSOE’s “final offer” to 17 January 2006.
  • El Mundo reported on 22 January 2006 on the agreement over the preamble wording and the financing model.
  • El País reported on 19 June 2006 that Montilla hailed the referendum result after voters backed the Statute.

How Montilla linked the Statute to socialist negotiations

The supplied source material supports Montilla’s claim that socialists played a central role in the process. Cadena SER’s 2006 report attributes to him a direct role in presenting a written socialist proposal, including financing changes. El Mundo’s account of the later agreement said the draft included a tax administration consortium between the Catalan and state administrations to manage shared taxes, with the possibility that within two years the consortium could become a tax administration.

That same El Mundo report also said the state would continue to manage state taxes and that the agreement envisaged three levels of tax administration, although not necessarily three separate service windows. The source material does not support broader claims about the final financing outcomes beyond those negotiation details, so those claims are not included here as established fact.

After the referendum, El País reported that Montilla celebrated the victory of the “yes” vote on 18 June 2006 and said “three out of four voters” had endorsed the Statute. In the same report, he said Catalonia had approved “a more ambitious Statute, better than the one we had”, adding that the institutions would have “more powers, more resources and more capacity”.

“Three out of four voters have endorsed the Statute, and that is an unanswerable fact.”

What it means for readers now

For residents, commuters, parents and businesses in Catalonia, Montilla’s remarks do not change any immediate rule or procedure. The practical point is political and legal: he is arguing that the 2006 Statute remains a live reference point in debates over how much power Catalan institutions should exercise and how that self-government should be organised.

Readers should understand two immediate implications from the verified material. First, Montilla is not announcing a new legal reform or a public consultation. Second, his comments are a defence of the existing Statute’s continuing importance and of the role played by the PSC and PSOE in securing the text in 2006.

The latest verified source does not set out any application process, deadline or formal next step for the public. The most concrete established fact remains Montilla’s position on Friday: that the 2006 Statute still matters and that, in his view, Catalan self-government carries a socialist hallmark.

Reported by Source Text Link, Cadena SER, lavanguardia.com, elmundo.es, Àngels Piñol, Miquel Noguer, europapress.es, Àngels Piñol, John McAulay, Rebeca Carranco, news.bbc.co.uk, nacion.com, elpais.com, Anabel Díez, Pilar Marcos, Enric Company, Anabel Díez, Europa Press Barcelona.