• The Government considers that, with his statements, Pablo Casado "is accusing teachers of committing crimes against moral integrity, of coercing minors and even of being responsible for a crime of incitement to hatred and violence".
• The spokesperson assumes that measures to limit the dissemination of the ÒMICRON variant are "as difficult as they are necessary"
• The Government has approved a decree law to facilitate the installation of energy efficiency or renewable energy systems in homes throughout the territory
• The Government approves the offer of public employment in 2021 with a total of 5,152 places, "prioritizing the sectors identified as priority and essential"

The Government has filed a complaint in the Supreme Court against the statements of the leader of the Popular Party, Pablo Casado, where he assured that in the schools of Catalonia children were not allowed to go to the bathroom if they spoke in Spanish.

As announced by President Aragonès himself on Friday, after the study by the legal services, it is considered that Casado's words "are not only absolutely false but directly attack the entire teaching staff of Catalonia as well as the education system". The Government's spokesperson explained that the defendant not only publicly stated, with the knowledge that he was lying, that students who did not speak Catalan were not allowed to go to the bathroom, but also added that the Catalan school discriminated against students based on the profession of their parents.

Casado "is accusing teachers of committing crimes against moral integrity, of coercing minors and even of being responsible for a crime of incitement to hatred and violence".

"There are red lines that cannot be crossed" has warned Plaja and if they are crossed, "they will find the Government of the Government of Catalonia fighting them". The spokesperson wanted to make it clear that "we are not talking about statements that may offend someone, we are talking about statements by a political responsible directly accusing the educational community of delinquency".

 

New measures to stop the spread of the variant Omicron

The spokesperson, during the press conference following the meeting of the Executive Council, has reported that the Government this morning has addressed the new measures agreed to limit the spread of COVID in our country. "Measures as difficult as necessary to avoid the overflow of a particularly complex epidemiological situation due to the emergence of the variant OMICRON".

As advanced yesterday as a matter of urgency, meetings are limited to groups of a maximum of 10 people, work is being done to implement night-time confinement in those municipalities with a higher accumulated incidence, night-time leisure is closed, and the capacity of restaurants is reduced by 50% and in stores and cultural events, by 70%. In the public administration, teleworking becomes a priority and face-to-face services can only be provided when they cannot be carried out from home. In the private sector, it is recommended that this measure also be applied whenever possible.

The resolution will be presented tomorrow morning at the High Court of Justice of Catalonia. "We hope that with these measures we will be able to bend the curve that has triggered the Omicron variant" concluded the spokesperson.

 

Decree law to facilitate the installation of energy efficiency systems in homes.

Today The Government has also approved a decree law to facilitate the installation of energy efficiency or renewable energy systems in homes throughout the territory. The regulation, promoted by the Department of Justice and which modifies aspects of the Catalan civil code, will serve to "encourage neighboring communities to install photovoltaic panels, insulating carpentry or other types of façade insulation because it favors the decision making of the communities". The new regulation foresees that only a simple majority of the community, that is to say, that half of the neighbors plus one, have the will to make the changes, will be necessary to move forward with the proposal.

With the modification of the civil code approved today, the first final provision of Decree Law 24/2021 on the acceleration of the deployment of distributed and shared renewable energies is complied with, which provided that the Government, within three months, would promote the necessary legislative amendments to facilitate the implementation of renewable energy sources in buildings and especially for blocks of apartments in which horizontal property governs.

In this way, neighborhood rules are established that will facilitate shared self-consumption in the internal network of the building, how different nearby buildings can share energy and participate in energy communities and also, very important to start strongly, for those neighbors who enjoy a common element such as a terrace or a balcony, no majority will be necessary to be able to move forward with the installation. As it happens with the infrastructure for recharging the electric vehicle in the parking lots in horizontal property regime, it will be enough to present a technical project to the neighbors' community.

With the approval of the Decree Law, a new section, the fourth, is added to other situations provided for in the current civil code that require a simple majority: works to remove architectural barriers or elevators, those involving any improvement in habitability, accessibility or safety, and the works necessary for common infrastructures.

The rule approved today also contemplates the impact that the pandemic of covid has on the meetings of the communities of neighbors. For this reason, it extends the possibility for the owners of a community to meet and adopt agreements telematically. Thus, in order to cope with the transmission of the COVID, the Decree Law extends until December 31, 2022 the deadline for the boards to adopt resolutions by videoconference or other means of communication.

 

Public employment offer

Today a new public employment offer has been approved that will allow the incorporation of 4,000 new professionals in the field of health, teaching, increasing the staff of the Department of the Interior and also in the penitentiary field. Specifically, this figure is broken down into 2,129 non-university teaching posts, 840 posts in the Catalan Police Corps (Mossos d’Esquadra), 240 firefighters and 100 rural agents. The rest corresponds to the bodies of administrative and technical civil servants, labor and prison administration personnel.

The Government has also authorized the Catalan Institute of Health to approve a public employment offer of up to a maximum of 1,132 positions for the statutory personnel of the health services, distributed in the corresponding bodies and specialties.

In this way, it is foreseen that the public employment offer of the Government of Catalonia for the year 2021 will be a total of 5,152 vacancies, "prioritizing the sectors identified as priority and essential".

 

Other Agreements

Also today the Government approves the Catalan Health Plan until the year 2025. This is the instrument and reference framework for all public actions in health matters within the scope of the Government of Catalonia, with the aim of improving the quality of life of the population.

Today, the most relevant cultural events and anniversaries to be commemorated next year have also been set. A total of 14 anniversaries will be celebrated, such as the centenary of the births of the writer Gabriel Ferrater, the photographer Francesc Català-Roca, and the 150th anniversary of the birth of Francesca Bonnemaison, pedagogue and promoter of popular female education. This year it should also be noted that The Government is working together with the Government of Valencia to commemorate the centenary of the birth of the writer Joan Fuster i Ortells, "one of the most committed writers in the struggle for the freedoms of the Catalan Countries". During the course of 2022 will also be celebrated, among others, the 150th anniversary of the founding of the current Athenaeum of Barcelona and the centenary of the beginning of the work of the Popular Songbook of Catalonia and the birth of the economist and politician Ramon Trias Fargas.

Finally, and still in the cultural field, the Government approves to grant the Pau Casals Award to the actress Núria Espert i Romero. The award "recognizes Espert's career of excellence on the stage, both in the field of acting and in the direction of theater, opera and cinema, with which she has contributed to the international projection of Catalan culture".

 

Weekly agenda

The spokesperson of the Government has informed that this year the traditional Christmas message of the president changes day and will be made on the day of Sant Esteve (Boxing Day), December 26, a holiday in Catalonia, at the beginning of the Christmas holidays and very rooted in Catalonia. The President's message will be broadcast at nine o'clock in the evening, as usual.

On the other hand, he recalled that tomorrow the President Aragonès is scheduled to participate telematically in the meeting of presidents to address the current situation of the pandemic.

The approval of the budget is also scheduled for this Thursday. The spokesperson wanted to emphasize that for the first time since the 2010 budgets, they are approved before the end of the year to come into force on January 1. "It could not be otherwise. Catalonia needs budgets and there will be budgets, expansive and social", she added.

Finally, the spokesperson has also advanced that today and tomorrow, the Government of Catalonia officially launches the Council of Foreign Catalonia "with the aim of intensifying the relationship with the Catalan community living abroad". The Council will be launched from a double day that will take place today with the presence of the Minister of Foreign Action and Open Government, Victoria Alsina and tomorrow with that of President Aragonès.