The caretaker Prime Minister is sailing very close to the wind in order to get re-elected.

The number of concessions that he will have to make to Catalan independentist parties has riled the Spanish right wing but perhaps the concession that has managed to rile everbody is the pardoning of Catalan debt to the Central Government to the tune of 15,000-million euros.

Regional governments run by the conservatives, like Andalucía are calling for their debts to be struck off as well, and even local municipal councils, like those of Almuñécar and Motril (both run by the PP) are asking for the same.

So what sort of debt are we talking about? The Autonomous Liquidity Fund (FLA), created by Royal Decree-Law 21/2012, is a temporary mechanism to back the financial liquidity of Public Administrations.

This economic safety net allows Autonomous Communities to obtain credit (from the Central Government) when they can’t get it from the financial markets; i.e., when their credit ratings are less than favourable. Cataluña has long had problems getting credit from abroad because of the independence turmoil.

This is not the first time that a Central Government (including those run by the PP) have pardoned debt owed to them from autonomous governments when they need political favours in the Lower House.

However, even amongst socialist ranks there is unease at just how far Pedro Sánchez is willing to go in order to get re-elected. The PP candidate, who won the most votes but fell short of a majority, could not gain enough support from other parties, so it fell to the socialists, to try and form a government using a wide range of parliamentary backing, including republican and independentist parties in Cataluña.

(News/Noticias: Spain)