A heated exchange erupted between the PP and the PSIB over the funding system. Both parties accused each other on Tuesday in Parliament of acting in accordance with the interests of their parties in Madrid and against the interests of the Balearic Islands, one of the territories most mistreated by the current system. "Their level of subservience to Pedro Sánchez is tremendous," declared the First Vice President and Minister of Economy, Antoni Costa, of the PSIB. "We have an opportunity," retorted the Socialist Yago Negueruela: "Would you vote against Alberto Núñez Feijóo?"

In this text, I briefly summarize a general consideration of how the proposed new regional financing affects the Balearic Islands. Despite the criticisms from various quarters, the proposal presented, as it is known, strictly speaking, does not constitute a new financing system. It is not unique to Catalonia, although it does benefit from it to a certain extent (but not only Catalonia: Andalusia, Murcia, and the Valencian Community also benefit). It does not remove Catalonia from the common regime nor place it under the Economic Agreement. It is not a faithful reflection of the investiture agreement, which has been so often discussed as separatist blackmail. It is not a fiscal pact. It does not commit to the desired ordinality. It is not a model based on the fiscal capacities of each region. It remains a model that guarantees needs based on the assumptions considered in population adjustments, and it grants little additional effective fiscal responsibility. The proposal is indeed somewhat simpler than the current system. It streamlines the treasury of the regions by reducing the system of advance payments. Although the results are ultimately interpreted in terms of relative rather than absolute gains, this is a model that, based on providing more funding, allows for the declaration that all regions "win."

The regional financing system has been outdated for 14 years: a model that disadvantages the Balearic Islands, the second-largest contributor of resources per capita but the tenth-largest recipient. Now, the Spanish government has put forward a new proposal. What do we know, and how might it affect the Balearic Islands?

"We will never accept this proposal." This was the emphatic statement made this Friday by the First Vice President, Minister of Economy and Finance, and spokesperson for the Balearic Government, Antoni Costa, regarding the reform of the regional financing system proposed by the Spanish government. "Does Ms. [María Jesús] Montero want to make a mockery of the Balearic Islands?" he asked, referring to the Minister of Finance, and insisted that her proposal "doesn't include a single request" from the Islands. "The height of absurdity," he continued, "is the direct attack on our tax autonomy: we will never accept a system that forces us to raise taxes."

Former Vox spokesperson (now an unaffiliated MP) Idoia Ribas made national news when she denounced Vox as a "pyramid scheme." Ribas claimed to have been pressured when she was part of the parliamentary group to divert money from the group to the party and expressed suspicion that it was later transferred to Santiago Abascal's Disenso Foundation. Faced with these accusations, Vox found the support of the majority of parliamentary groups for the first time in the legislature. While the Catalan government urged Ribas to take the alleged misappropriation of funds to the foundation to court if she had evidence—she has ruled this out—the PSIB and MÉS por Mallorca argued that diverting a portion of the aid the groups receive to their acronyms is both legal and commonplace.

The Spanish government has announced that it is already working on reforming the regional financing system, a pending issue since the model approved by José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero expired in 2009. President Pedro Sánchez announced this Wednesday in Congress that the issue would be "put on the table," and the First Vice President and Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero, provided further details, as reported by Efe. However, sources within the Balearic Government are "skeptical" about the proposal and are calling on the Ministry to set a timeline, something it has not done so far.