More efficient management, the issue to be resolved after Illa's first year in office

Last December, Salvador Illa revived an old Maragall tradition, which actually stemmed from municipal public culture, of bringing together all of his administration's executives in a single session.

At that meeting, he conveyed two messages. The first was that the lack of a sufficient majority in Parliament—it holds 42 of the 135 seats—was no excuse for not going into the office every morning and getting to work.

The second message was his determination to transform the administration. And it's not just about reducing bureaucracy. Administration is everything: security, healthcare, education…

Political stability

A year after Salvador Illa's investiture, which will be celebrated tomorrow, August 8th, it can already be concluded that his presidency has tamed the currents that have shaken Catalan politics in recent years. Despite considerable limitations—he has failed to approve a budget for 2025—he has achieved consistent stability, especially when compared to what is currently happening in Spanish politics.

But his other goal, to make the engine room of the Catalan public administration work more efficiently, seems more difficult to achieve.

Illa knows that this is where another important political battle is being played out. It's about ensuring that the administration reaches levels of efficiency it doesn't currently possess. A commitment no different from that of most European governments.

The president has taken on the task of revitalizing the public sector, which is suffering from serious dysfunctions.

The machinery of the welfare state is suffering from enormous fatigue, which is fueling the far-right's rhetoric. Trump's ideology is lurking.

The inbox

A minister recently explained a surprising case. Until now, most citizens submit their requests to the Generalitat in writing, on paper forms submitted to the Generalitat offices. Officials are then responsible for entering this data into the system. Very few requests arrive through the Government's digital portal, bypassing the form and the obligatory visit to public offices. But the truth is that when this digital request reaches the department, the form is printed and placed in the same inbox as those who submitted it in writing. The same team of officials enters the data again. A true bureaucratic disaster.

This past week, the Generalitat (Catalan Government) launched a project to streamline the main processes for the most common requests from citizens. This plan has a lot to do with this case—anecdotal, if you will, but descriptive—reported by the minister. In a few months, we'll find out if the number of pending cases in the inbox has decreased.

At the beginning of December last year, the Catalan government presented its government plan, which included an evaluation system. A series of indicators—for example, the number of places in public nursing homes—would allow us to determine whether things were improving or worsening. The first report available so far is from the end of 2024. For now, there are no more, so it's difficult to make comparisons and reach conclusions.

Rodalies and the Airport

Meanwhile, Illa has managed to unblock important decisions such as the creation of the joint venture that will ultimately grant management of the Rodalies network to the Generalitat. But this objective remains in political limbo and far from the urgent needs of rail service users, whose assessment has barely risen above failure.

There are political agreements in Rodalies and the airport that are moving slowly in a fast-paced world.

Another example: the controversial expansion of El Prat Airport is beginning to move forward on difficult political balances. But in the meantime, Barcelona Airport is handling flights beyond its capacity. Meanwhile, in Madrid, the project—funded by the central government—to directly connect Barcelona Sants Station with Barajas via the Atocha and Chamartín bypasses is already halfway completed. In a couple of years, Madrid will have another high-powered vacuum tube attracting passengers from the Catalan capital.

Inheritances and emergencies

Everything is moving forward, but slowly. Perhaps due to the impossibility of having a new budget aligned with the government's program, but also due to the years in which priorities were different, a circumstance Salvador Illa has never held against his predecessors in office this year. Illa is not one for reproach.

And there are poisoned inheritances: perhaps the most scandalous has been the one that led the Minister of Social Rights, Mónica Martínez Bravo, to completely overhaul the former Directorate General for Child Care. Everyone has known for years that child care was a bottomless pit—as some former ministers have acknowledged—and that emergency services overwhelmed procedures. The result is clear to see.

Education and housing

Another legacy: education. For years, Catalonia has been failing in educational quality compared to other regions in Spain and Europe. The reasons are multiple. This year, Illa signed an agreement with the OECD to propose solutions and monitor the progress of the Catalan education system, whose recovery, if it ever happens, may take time, as the president himself acknowledged in Parliament.

More inheritances and more emergencies: housing has become the main problem cited by citizens in the Generalitat's own surveys for several quarters. The rental price regulation policy has managed to contain incomes, but they remain unaffordable for young people.

The reorganization of the Department of the Interior has begun to yield results in the perception of security.

This price regulation is one of the political decisions that has provoked discontent among business sectors with whom Illa has generally established a more than fluid relationship in this first year.

The Catalan government has committed to investing 4.4 billion euros over four years to build affordable housing, reaching 50,000. The problem, once again, is the response time to what is alarming Catalan society.

In the area of security, indicators point to an improvement in citizens' perceptions of what is happening in their neighborhoods. Minister Núria Parlon and the new police chief, Josep Lluís Trapero, have promoted a reform of the police service with more officers on the streets, while, thanks to the good relationship with the Ministry of Justice, the Catalan courts are beginning to move away from their exasperating slowness. But this is only the beginning. Even swift justice is a long-term goal.