The People’s Party of Castilla-La Mancha Overall revision of local budget for 2026he considers it “continuationist” and “out of touch with local economic realities.” Santiago Serrano, deputy spokesperson for the National Assembly, defended it. … This decision “Institutionally responsible conduct” In the face of a description that, in his opinion, cements “a lost decade under the Emiliano Garcia-Page regime.”
According to Serrano, Budget projects “repeat the same old mistakes”These include inadequate execution of investments, repeated accounting of unrealized projects, and lack of control over public spending. He recalled that the Independent Authority for Fiscal Responsibility (AIReF) had warned that Castilla-La Mancha would not be able to comply with spending rules in both 2025 and 2026.
The popular lawmaker emphasized that This community is one of the five slowest growing municipalities since 2019the GDP forecast for 2026 is below the national average, recalling: Castilla-La Mancha has the fourth highest debt in SpainThis debt “has not diminished even in the years when the economy has recovered the most”, he asserted, and has increased by more than 3 billion since Page took office.
Serrano also points out The deterioration in purchasing power in the region has decreased by 13.44% since 2015, and the cumulative inflation rate is estimated to be 28.3%the best in the country, Food prices increased by 46.5%. At the same time, the per capita income gap with the national average is now more than 6,000 euros, and the gap with the European average is more than 13,000 euros.
Increasing collection volumes and decreasing profits in public services
PP condemns it, despite this context,Local governments ‘continue to break tax collection records’By 2026, tax revenue will increase by 6.8%, an increase of 500 million yen from the previous year. Since Page ruled, heTax revenue per resident increased by 35.6%According to data maintained by the parliamentary group.
What’s Popular Keeps It This increase in income has not led to improvements in public services.. Despite the fact that the spending cap is 60% higher than in 2015, Serrano deplores the fact that the country still has the worst medical waiting list in the country, oversaturated primary care, structurally deficient education centers and strained social services that “keep afloat thanks to the support of city councils and local bodies.”
In addition, PP criticizes 14.18% cut in real investment and low execution of European fundsIts absorption rate is said to be more than 20 points lower than communities such as Castile and León and Galicia.
One of the most noteworthy points about this revision is that Complaints that the investment annex excludes approximately 400 municipalities, most of which are in rural areas and are affected by depopulation.. Furthermore, according to the PP, 230 million euros of the document corresponds to projects that have not yet started implementation, but were already included in the previous budget.
Serrano believes: This repetition “demonstrates a lack of planning and a loss of credibility in the accounting documents.”Because, in his opinion, it’s a “copy-and-paste exercise” that turns the budget into “wet paper”.
After 10 years of socialist government, the deputy spokesperson of the PP concluded: “Without improving the lives of the people of Castilla-La Mancha, Page has only reinforced the permanence of power,” Page said.. For this reason, he defends the overall amendment as “not a gesture of opposition, but an act of organized loyalty to Castilla-La Mancha, its people and its future.”