Sánchez calls conference of regional leaders in Barcelona

Thursday 15 May 2025 - 13:03

By: Zahouani Ilham

Sánchez calls conference of regional leaders in Barcelona

The Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, has scheduled a new meeting of the Conference of Presidents for June 6 in Barcelona. According to official sources from Moncloa, details will be shared this Thursday with the autonomous communities and cities.

Currently, the specific topics for discussion remain undecided. The Ministry of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory will soon convene a preparatory committee with representatives from the autonomous regions to set the meeting agenda.

Government insiders confirm that the agenda is still open, but anticipate that economic issues and regional financing will be prominent themes. The last Conference of Presidents took place in Santander in mid-December last year, focusing on housing, regional funding, migration, and healthcare staffing shortages. However, no agreements were reached, with opposition leaders mainly criticizing the special financial arrangements for Catalonia despite Sánchez’s plans to reduce its debt.

The government emphasized that the conference’s goal was not to reach consensus, a stance underscored by strong criticisms from both opposition regional leaders and Castilla-La Mancha’s president, Emiliano García-Page.

Barcelona was confirmed as the next host city after a request by Catalonia’s regional president, Salvador Illa, welcomed by Sánchez. This upcoming meeting is expected to feature renewed political tensions between the central government and opposition-led autonomous regions.

By regulation, the Conference of Presidents must meet at least twice a year, with invitations sent no later than twenty days before the event unless there are urgent reasons.

The Barcelona conference will likely open with the traditional breakfast hosted by the king. The final agenda will be determined in the preparatory committee led by Ángel Víctor Torres, the Territorial Policy Minister, who is recovering from recent surgery and expected to resume duties this month.

Since its inception in 2004 by then Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the Conference of Presidents has met 27 times—initially convened by Zapatero, then Mariano Rajoy, and predominantly by Sánchez, including seventeen virtual sessions coordinating the COVID-19 response.