This is what Minister Montero thought about debt forgiveness when she was a councillor in Andalusia

The First Vice President of the Government, María Jesús Montero, has accused the PP communities of adopting a confrontational position contrary to the interests of their citizens after their refusal to accept the debt relief that she has offered them. Montero has been especially critical of the Andalusian Government's response, given that the proposal, in the case of Andalusia, would mean that the State would assume half of the debt that the Junta currently has.

But Montero's position was quite different when she was the Minister of Finance in the Andalusian Government, when Susana Díaz was the president. At that time, Montero maintained that with its proposal for forgiveness, Mariano Rajoy's Government was trying to avoid the reform of the regional financing system that was being demanded from Andalusia.

In a video now released by the Andalusian Government, María Jesús Montero vehemently states that the debate on financing was "irreplaceable" and, therefore, she rejected any proposal by Minister Cristóbal Montoro on a debt restructuring or forgiveness, "however much it would benefit Andalusia."

This is an intervention by María Jesús Montero on May 30, 2018, when she was still the Minister of Finance in Andalusia, and before the Finance and Public Administration Commission in the Parliament of Andalusia. In that parliamentary session, Montero informed the Andalusian deputies about the position that the Junta would maintain at the meeting of the Fiscal and Financial Policy Council that was scheduled for a few days later, and in which the Junta hoped that the debate on the new regional financing system would be addressed.

"Mr. Montoro cannot pretend that, via debt restructuring or forgiveness, the debate can be replaced. We say it again, for the record, because we are not going to share it..., no matter how much it benefits Andalusia or not . The debate is irreplaceable, because we are talking about the next ten years in terms of financing," says the minister.

The 14 Finance Ministers of the autonomous communities and cities governed by the Popular Party, who are the majority, have decided to oust the First Vice President from the Fiscal and Financial Policy Council held this Wednesday, in a gesture with which they have shown their rejection of the 'super-cut' proposed by the minister. They describe it as a "trap" orchestrated by the PSOE with the independentists to guarantee the stability of Pedro Sánchez 's Government. The Popular Party leaders have left the room and have not wanted to vote on this point of the agenda.

At the end of the meeting, Montero accused the PP councillors of "neglecting their duties" by not attending the meeting and rejecting a proposal that would allow the regions to turn to the markets to obtain financing under better conditions.