The regional presidents consulted by EL PAÍS on the eve of the declaration of a new state of alarm after the one decreed seven months ago agree that a greater involvement of the central government is necessary
The territorial leaders of the PSOE share that the state of alarm is an appropriate tool and ask to apply it throughout the country while the popular ones are reluctant to the measure and ask to reform the health law to give legal instruments to the autonomies
They all demand more coordination from the Sánchez Executive The presidents of the Basque Country and Murcia declined to participate.
Andalusia has been asking the Government for months for a legal instrument that allows it to adopt effective measures against the pandemic without having to resort to a state of alarm
In the conferences of presidents since March I have repeatedly proposed like other regional presidents this need but eight months later we do not have a legal framework that allows a homogeneous response to the pandemic in the different autonomies with full legal certainty regrets Moreno Bonilla
My Government has decreed perimeter closures of cities and towns with the fortune that until now the Justice has endorsed those decisions
But I am aware that as has happened in other areas of Spain the Justice may not ratify those decisions that restrict mobility Andalusia has just published a regulation that limits mobility from 1100 pm to 600 am and we have already requested judicial authorization to apply it in the capital Granada and its metropolitan area refers the baron of the PP
For Moreno Bonilla in a pandemic the coordination planning and promotion of health policy corresponds to the Government of Spain and it should not renounce it
Javier Lambán Aragon
The more homogeneous the measurements the better
The Aragonese president assures that his government will unconditionally accept any decision on the declaration of the state of alarm or curfew The more homogeneous the measures that are applied throughout the national territory the better he says
The collaboration and coordination of measures is fundamental insists the baron of the PSOE
The state of the autonomies favors management without a doubt agrees Lambán Regarding the measures of the last interterritorial health council President Maño points out that the Ministry headed by Salvador Illa together with the communities has already established common indicators and criteria and even without being legally binding we have always applied them
On a personal level Lambán points out how the covid has affected us closely to the whole of society In her case her 97yearold father suffered from the disease and overcame it The perspective is the same he says about whether he changed his way of facing the crisis and whether he altered his way of managing the fight against the epidemic
Adrián Barbón Asturias
The state of alarm is a very useful instrument for everyone
The President of the Principality believes that the state of alarm can be a very useful instrument for all communities In fact June 20 was one of the exceptions that advocated delaying entry into the new normal for a few weeks Among the measures that he would adopt for his community with a state of alarm in force would be for the time being the curfew
And it would fit many others that we have been adopting since June 21 with the aim of controlling the pandemic so that they have that legal backing The socialist thinks that it is good that the indicators are common and there is true cogovernance That would greatly facilitate knowledge and commitment by citizens
Regarding the autonomous state he thinks that it is useful because it brings health management closer to the citizens But it is true he warns that in a crisis like the one we are experiencing it has been necessary to go to a federalization of the State
For example the Interterritorial Council of the National Health System must have the capacity to agree by majority on mandatory measures in matters of Public Health I also believe it is necessary to create a State Public Health Agency he concludes
Francina Armengol Balearic Islands
You have to act according to the particularity of each territory
The socialist leader believes that given the exceptional nature of the moment the state of general alarm can give the necessary legal coverage to the autonomies Armengol defends that one has to act according to the particularity of each territory not only of each autonomous community but for example in the case of the Balearic Islands according to the particularities of each island
In his opinion more controls are needed in ports and airports The island communities need to rethink the conditions of mobility Both the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands insist on the need to intensify and improve sanitary controls in ports and airports
To Armengol it would seem very wrong to get out of the crisis by questioning the autonomous state and defending recentralization processes
This would be a mistake Perhaps the problem occurs when the crisis management is in the hands of the autonomies but the State reserves certain instruments for itself If the appropriate framework had been generated for example with the modification of the Public Health Law perhaps we would have avoided certain situations he reflects
Ángel Víctor Torres Canary Islands
There must be the maximum possible agreement
At the head of the community with the most favorable indexes he discards measures such as the curfew in the archipelago if the situation remains stable
The Canarian president stresses that there should be the maximum possible agreement thinking of the general interest and taking into account the specificities of each territory in line with the Balearic president
Torres trusts that the fourfold crisis Spain is facing health political economic and social will serve to strengthen the State of the autonomies The capacity of each territory to take measures thinking about the common good and not about political strategies
Regarding the common and binding scales he adds What has been done having a common framework is necessary but I also have to say that it is enough that we all comply with the current criteria
Miguel Ángel Revilla Cantabria
It is necessary coordination between autonomies
The leader of the Regionalist Party of Cantabria celebrates the declaration of the state of alarm at the national level We need that approval that support and that legal certainty because now there are courts that are breaking down restrictions in one community and not in another he says
It takes a lot of coordination especially between neighboring autonomies
Revilla believes that once the state of alarm has been declared it is the experts from each community who should take the upper hand in making decisions about the measures to be adopted No one knows the situation in a territory better than they do he says If the situation worsens they consider a curfew in addition to the closure of restaurants at 1100 pm and the limitation of meetings to six people
And it would not be bad he adds for the central government to set more indicators to assess the severity of the epidemic in each territory
Emiliano GarcíaPage CastillaLa Mancha
The State must give us all legal protection
Defender of a state of general alarm for a long time as the most effective solution also for the only message to all citizens that it would transmit is in favor of providing legal protection to all with general measures The communities would apply them according to their characteristics and particularities
The more coordination the better emphasizes the president of CastillaLa Mancha For the leader of the PSOE the State of the autonomies favors the management of the pandemic and its multiple derivatives In the background it improves it We are 17 Administrations hiring professionals and worrying about what happens to us in each of our territories
Like so many thousands of citizens the covid has touched him closely Yes unfortunately like so many Spaniards I have close people who have suffered from the disease and some have lost loved ones
The perspective has not changed The health emergency is of such a dimension that from the first moment we have put all our energy to overcome it explains GarcíaPage
For months we have been demanding legal instruments that allow us to apply effective measures against the pandemic without having to resort to a state of alarm as other communities and Pablo Casado have also defended who proposed to the Government of Spain to agree to the reform of the Health Law states Manueco
On May 17 I already asked that steps be taken in the area of legal deescalation to guarantee aspects such as control of mobility between provinces recalls the popular president of Castilla y León Mañueco asks the Government for more common criteria and to provide the autonomous communities in addition to effective legal instruments and sufficient funding to replan human resources policies and deal with the problem of lack of health professionals
I transmitted all this to Minister Illa on Friday points out Mañueco defends for nowthe curfew decreed in the region It is urgent to stop the number of infections in Castilla y León
Pere Aragonès Catalonia
With the state of alarm we will be able to execute measures with speed and agility
The Catalan president declares himself in favor of a state of alarm in Catalonia managed by the Generalitat in order to be able to execute measures quickly and agilely
We ask that it be decreed for Catalonia to be able to manage it better and from the knowledge of the health system and the social and economic reality of the country he emphasizes whether he believes that it should be decreed by communities or all of Spain
The ERC leader is categorical in his defense that the measures to be applied should be decided exclusively by the communities At least in his case In Catalonia the Generalitat of Catalonia We would like to have all the responsibilities that are proper to an independent state We want all the tools to be able to manage it recalls his independence ideology
The curfew is within the measures you intend to adopt We will study more measures to restrict mobility if necessary taking into account epidemiological data explains Aragonès
Regarding whether it is favorable for the Government to establish more binding indicators and criteria for all communities Aragonès defends that the Governments criteria are already established We have taken stricter measures and we have always anticipated the measures of the central Government
Ximo Puig Valencian Community
The solution must be common but modular
Like his colleagues from the PSOE he defends that the state of alarm is the most useful legal instrument to face the current situation from the unity of action and with a spirit of cogovernance
The Valencian Government is in favor of a solution common to all of Spain and at the same time modular according to the situation of each territory Puig urges the shared responsibility of cogovernance Let us not centrifuge responsibility neither governments nor oppositions
We are not here to confront but to help and to protect citizens The common framework that has been addressed in recent days seems necessary But I also have to say that it is enough that we all meet the current criteria he stresses
Like other regional presidents Fernández Vara has suffered a case of close serious coronavirus And it has not changed its way of managing the crisis
It hasnt changed me I am a politician but before that I am a doctor and I know that only from scientific rigor can this situation be addressed he says
The Extremaduran president is also in favor of a state of alarm for the entire country The covid has not yet learned the autonomy statutes of each community I am a supporter now that I see that we cannot make the decisions we need without the constitutional coverage of the state of alarm
The judges have been doing an extraordinary job in Extremadura but everything has a limit abounds on the decision that this Sunday will be taken in the extraordinary Council of Ministers convened to study the terms of a new royal decree of state of alarm
Fernández Vara underlines the difficulty of fighting the coronavirus which forces us to make the decisions that are necessary at all times
Today I think that of restricting night mobility he adds in line with other territorial leaders such as María Chivite Navarra I defended defend and will defend that in situations of the magnitude of which we are living only harmony scientific rigor political consensus and the defense of peoples lives and our model of coexistence of the economy of the companies and the workers ditch the baron of the PSOE
To the question of whether the State of the autonomies favors the management of this crisis or is making it difficult he answers that it is not a question that can be answered with a yes or a no It favors it if we assume that we are part of the solution
Alberto Núñez Feijóo Galicia
We must reform health legislation
The president of the Xunta raises as a clamor in the legal field the need for a reform in health legislation in order to adopt restrictions with guarantees Feijóo even sent the Government his own proposal to reform the organic health law
We have lost six months in which we could be ready to act before this second wave
The Galician president the only one of the PP with an absolute majority supports the possibility of establishing restrictions mobility or different activities always with homogeneous criteria
And he adds It should be possible to act forcefully and with guarantees without having to resort to an extraordinary and exceptional mechanism such as the state of alarm which also has a huge reputational cost for Spain
Highlights the Riojan president who recalls how communities have not always had the endorsement of the courts with the legal insecurity that it generated Spain is a democratic state governed by law and we must be scrupulous in complying with the laws
Andreu emphasizes the excellent relationship with neighboring communities which greatly facilitates the fight against the virus
The reality of each region is different and requires highly individualized actions but it does have common criteria he says In his opinion the autonomous state allows comparisons between different administrations The virus does not understand political colors state models or borders observes the socialist leader
In his opinion the pandemic has endowed the autonomous state with a greater role The powers of todays Spain are shared as well as responsibilities During this health crisis we have shown that interterritorial collaboration mechanisms can and must work We must continue working in that sense
Isabel Díaz Ayuso Madrid
The measure must include basic health areas
The Madrid president who passed the coronavirus and has had deceased relatives and affected by the coronavirus says she wants to collaborate with the central Administration but to say what she needs us for Whether or not there is a state of alarm is the responsibility of the Government Madrid has dictated its rules according to its powers
The PP leader accuses Sánchez of having been disappeared and asks that if the state of alarm is decreed the Executive include the basic health areas and the schedules decreed by Madrid as well as that it begins to control the Barajas airport
Ayuso also insists on the PP proposal last May to modify the 1986 law before resorting to a state of alarm, The president of the provincial community is clear that in view of the problems that most autonomous communities have had to avoid judicial suspensions of the decisions they made to try to control the pandemic the declaration of the state of alarm is a tool that can help in the management of the pandemic.
However it is nothing more than that a tool asserts Chivite for which interinstitutional coordination and cogovernance are key In the specific case of Navarra which presents the most pronounced incidence remember that its measures are the most restrictive and have passed all legal filters however
Interinstitutional cooperation and coordination between the central and regional governments is essential maintains the Navarrese president who as the head of La Rioja highlights the coordination with the nearest autonomous communities
Due to the principle of subsidiarity I consider it more useful that the communities themselves manage the measures of the state of alarm although of course in collaboration with the State In our case as it has been until now he shares
Nighttime confinement which other communities value is the measure that Public Health experts in the provincial community consider will probably be the most useful in reducing the incidence of the virus
And it is a measure that can only be taken with the legal protection of the state of alarm warns Chivite for which the State of the autonomies is a political architecture that has sought the highest levels of freedom and development in Spain in all its history Naturally a pandemic puts stress on all systems including politicians
But I have never considered the need for agreement for a pact for cogovernance to be a weakness Recentralizing temptations and even totalitarian ones are nothing but expressions of inability to manage he says
