Between 2002 and 2023, a study has revealed that the regions of Andalucía, Valencia, Murcia, and Castilla-La Mancha collectively experienced a funding shortfall amounting to €39.906 billion, attributed to recent autonomous financing systems that have delivered less than the national average.

This financial gap corresponds to 81% of the budget of the Junta de Andalucía for this year and exceeds the current financial allocations for Valencia, Murcia, and Castilla-La Mancha.

The funding shortfall is particularly pronounced, with €20.399 billion owed to the Comunidad Valenciana and €13.411 billion to Andalucía. Murcia and Castilla-La Mancha, while still impacted, have deficits of €4.135 billion and €1.691 billion, respectively.

The study, conducted by researchers from the Instituto Valenciano de Investigación Económica (IVIE), highlights that this underfunding has forced the four regions to devote a greater share of their budgets to public services, thereby limiting their ability to invest in infrastructure and economic development.

From 2009 to 2023, spending on healthcare, education, and social services in these regions made up 86.3% of total expenditures, compared to 81.6% in other regions.

In 2022, Murcia approached its financial spending limit with nearly 100% utilization.

Regions like Castilla-La Mancha and Valencia have only half the per capita funding available for regional development policies compared to other territories.

The chronic underfunding has created a cycle that hinders economic convergence, leaving these regions lagging behind the national GDP per capita average.

Over the analyzed period, Murcia, Castilla-La Mancha, and Andalucía have not been able to close the economic gap, while the Comunidad Valenciana's situation has deteriorated.

Concurrently, following the 2008 financial crisis, three of these four regions—Valencia, Murcia, and Castilla-La Mancha—ranked as having the highest levels of debt relative to their GDP.

The economic and finance ministers from these underfunded autonomous communities convened in Sevilla to request a more aggressive push from the Ministry of Finance for reforming the current financing system.

As noted by Luis Alberto Marín, the finance minister from Murcia, this reform is essential to allow these regions to "compete on equal footing" with others.

The existing financial model was established in 2009 but expired in 2014, with successive governments failing to address the pressing need for reform.

Previous Minister of Finance Cristóbal Montoro began the assessment of financing needs for each region, a process that current Minister María Jesús Montero also initiated but has not yet finalized due to ongoing political negotiations and regional appeals.

In 2023, estimates indicated that regions allowing for greater per capita expenditures can afford to maintain a budget surplus at year-end, as seen in Asturias.

At the Sevilla summit, regional finance officials—including three from the Popular Party and one from the Socialist Party—expressed the necessity for a new financing model.

Carolina España, Andalucía's minister of economy and finance, highlighted that the region currently receives €183 less per inhabitant than the average, significantly more than what is allocated to regions like Cataluña and La Rioja.

Ruth Merino, her counterpart from Valencia, claimed that the current financial situation has become "entrenched," leading to a chronic deficit that is only sustained by state financial facilitation mechanisms.

Merino also referred to the ongoing discussions regarding a specific financing agreement for Cataluña, which is currently under negotiation.

Both the Sevilla meeting and a simultaneous summit in Santiago de Compostela, attended by the presidents of Asturias, Galicia, and Castilla y León, indicated a broad consensus on the need for a revamped financing model, though their priorities varied greatly.

The IVIE report proposes a redesign of the funding system that aligns with the needs of the underfunded regions, primarily through the establishment of a leveling fund to equalize per capita contributions among territories.

This fund would be calculated annually, with projections suggesting an average annual amount of €6.843 billion for the years 2024-2027, which the report deems manageable within state budgets given the severity of the issues at hand.

Additionally, the report advocates for simplifying the funding model through the creation of a basic financing fund that encompasses core competencies shared among all autonomous communities, to be supplemented by transfers from personal income tax, VAT, and special taxes, as well as a solidarity quota applicable to foral communities.

A complementary financing fund would also be established to cover specific regional competencies, ensuring consistency with existing taxes on inheritances and wealth, but in a more harmonized manner.