Erc and Junts Raise Their Salaries by 20% in Sant Cugat

Sant Cugat was one of the few Catalan municipalities where Junts and ERC agreed to form a government. The four Republican councilors joined the nine post-convergents to assemble the absolute majority. The first measure of the pro-independence government has been to raise their salaries.

The mayor Josep Maria Vallès, from Junts, will earn 5,500 euros more and will have a salary of 79,500 euros annually. This represents an increase of 7.3%. The deputy mayors have raised their salaries by 8,550 euros (13.5%) and will earn 72,000 euros annually.

The salary increase for the delegated councilors is particularly noteworthy. They will have an increase of 11,550 euros, bringing their annual salary to 64,000 euros. This represents a 22% salary increase compared to the previous term.

35,855 Euros More Than the Average Salary

Despite having reduced the number of trusted positions, the cost of the new government team skyrockets by 266,000 euros annually. The expense rises from 1,290,000 euros to 1,550,000, with an overall increase of 20.6%.

From the mayor's office, they claim to have implemented mechanisms to reduce the increase to 6.2%. The management and the Directorate of Social Rights will be compensated as temporary positions. A hiring procedure is expected to be opened so that they will soon be absorbed by the administration's expenses.

A simple camouflage operation, according to the opposition, that doesn't hide the true reality of the problem. In an economic crisis context, ERC and Junts of Sant Cugat have raised their salaries well above the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

It should be remembered that the Minimum Interprofessional Salary (SMI) is 15,120 euros annually, and the councilors will earn 64,000. In Catalonia, the average salary is 28,145 euros annually.

5% More in Allowances

In addition to raising their salaries, four councilors will no longer have exclusive dedication. These are the councilor of Business, Albert Salarich, Education, Carme Ardid, Health, Núria Fernández, and Housing, Francesc Duch. These councilors will have a dedication of between 80% and 95%.

The salary increase agreed with the PP also means an increase for the opposition councilors. A member of each group may request a remuneration of 41,000 euros annually, which represents an 8% increase. The rest may earn 5% more in allowances next year.

Thus, a councilor will earn 550 euros per ordinary plenary session and 600 per extraordinary plenary session. The remuneration for an informative commission will be 500 euros, 330 for a special accounts commission, and 400 for a spokesperson board.

'Party Interests, Not City Interests'

From the city council, they justify the increase "to make the professional management structure more competitive to the detriment of trusted positions". They speak of "natural and logical remunerations". And they assure that thanks to this "we will do much more with much less".

From the opposition, the PSC values it as "an abusive, unbalanced, and unsustainable increase". The CUP considers it "exaggerated and arbitrary", and the Comuns have denounced "party interests and not city interests". Vox has also opposed this "excessively high increase".