More Mossos and more courts: the new agreements between Catalonia and the Government of Pedro Sánchez

More Mossos and more courts. These are the main agreements reached this Monday at the Bilateral Commission between the Generalitat and the State and the Joint Commission on Transfers held in Barcelona. These summits are a continuation of the bilateral meeting on infrastructures held on 17 February, in which the transfer of Rodalies to the Generalitat was negotiated. Next Friday, 28 February, the last of these meetings will take place, the Commission on Economic and Fiscal Affairs , in which the "singular" financing for Catalonia will be addressed.

"A new stage of relations between the Government of Catalonia and the Government of Spain has begun. The policy of collaboration must yield better results than the policy of confrontation," claimed the Minister of the Presidency, Albert Dalmau .

In total, both administrations have sealed 20 agreements that mark a "new era" of institutional collaboration. Dalmau has also criticized the fact that these meetings have not been held for years. In the case of the Transfer Commission, the summit has not met since 2010.

The main measures include an increase in the number of Mossos d'Esquadra officers , which will grow by 5,000 officers by 2030 and will reach a total staff of 25,000 officers that year. The initial forecast was to increase the number of officers only to 22,000.

In addition, the Catalan judicial system will be expanded to "bring it up to the Spanish average for new courts." According to Dalmau, this average will require the creation of 60 courts whose main task will be to combat multiple recidivism. However, the Government has not clarified how many judges will occupy these courtrooms.

According to official data, of the 137 judges who graduated in the last promotion, 48 were assigned to Catalonia. The total number of magistrates in Catalonia amounts to 851. This judicial "shock plan" , as defined by the Minister of Territorial Policy and Public Administration, Ángel Víctor Torres , aims to reverse the lack of judges in the community.

Both administrations have also agreed to create a working group to launch this year an investment consortium to pilot major public projects in Catalonia. This consortium, which is expected to have equal representation between the Generalitat and the State, was part of the investiture agreements between ERC and PSC.

The transfer of the authority to appoint municipal secretaries to the Generalitat has also been agreed. The Xerta-Sénia canal and a dozen hydraulic works such as the Priorat, Noguera and Montsià water treatment plants will also be transferred to the regional administration.