Juan Manuel Moreno criticizes the spending of the 'Catalan embassies' in the inauguration of the Junta's office in Barcelona

Embassies

delegations.

Juan Manuel Moreno (PP), the president of the Junta de Andalucía, took advantage of his visit, this Friday, to the works of the representative office of the Andalusian Government on Paseo de Gràcia in Barcelona to criticize the international agenda of Catalonia .

Coinciding with the visit of President Pere Aragonès to Latin America, the popular has charged against a system of "embassies" that he considers a sumptuous expense and that he understands that they compete with the foreign action of the central government.

His model, he has said, is that of cooperation and collaboration between territories.

For the sample the reopening of the delegation, which was an electoral promise.

It will be piloted by the former deputy of the PP of Parliament, Esperanza García.

Andalusia already had, like the Generalitat, a delegation.

Moreno, who has made the visit to the headquarters of number 23 Paseo de Gràcia together with García and his Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Enric Millo, has not hidden that the idea with the reopening of this center (closed at the height of the cuts in the 2010s) is to respond to the demographic reality of Catalonia, to maintain ties with the community from which the great migratory waves of the 50s and 60s came, but also to strengthen commercial ties.

The fact that the headquarters of the office is in the most noble street of the city, a few meters from the Barcelona Stock Exchange, serves as a claim to the potential of southern Spain.

Attract not only foreign investors who visit the Catalan capital, but also to seek synergies with local companies.

Moreno has been very careful not to buy the message of the president of the Madrid community, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, because he knows that it can affect the competition and there "synergies" with the Government can be important.

"They share many common goals," he stressed after being "satisfied" with fulfilling one of his electoral promises.

Moreno and Millo have wanted to make it clear that the representation of the Junta in Andalusia is not an "embassy".

Not only because it is obvious that it is in national territory, but because they have deliberately wanted to contrast the model of institutional cooperation and foreign action of both autonomies.

Catalonia and Andalusia, like other communities, have recognized competences in Foreign Affairs.

But the popular believes that, given the "confrontation" that the 18 delegations abroad of the Catalan Executive imply (the one in Colombia, which Aragonès announced during the trip, is not on that list), his recipe is to be more "efficient ” and “collaborative, relying on the network abroad of Foreign Affairs.

Moreno's agenda in Catalonia, which also has events this weekend, includes meeting the PP candidates for mayor of Barcelona (Dani Sirera) and Castelldefels (Manu Reyes).

He will also visit the regional houses.

The trip is part of the fact that the pre-campaign for the May elections is already in full swing and the prospects for the PP are not very encouraging.

"No matter where you live, Andalusia always has you in mind," said the tweet with which Moreno announced his visit.

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