Salvador Illa marks two years as Catalan president with housing and education push

Mid-mandate speech at Drassanes

Catalan President Salvador Illa delivered a policy address on 14 September 2026 at the Museu Marítim de Barcelona to mark two years since taking office. Speaking from the same Drassanes venue where he presented his 2024 campaign under the motto to unite and serve, Illa presented his administration as having moved past a decade of political paralysis. The speech outlined policy priorities across education, housing, infrastructure, and technological adaptation for the coming decade under the slogan "The future is here". Illa maintained that his cross-party cabinet has restored institutional stability and fostered collective cohesion after years of polarization surrounding the pro-independence movement.

Today Catalonia is once again a collective project for all Catalans.

Housing targets and public spending

Public housing and infrastructure execution formed the primary economic pillars of the address. Illa stated that 3,073 public housing units were completed in Catalonia during the first quarter of 2026, accounting for 60% of all public residential units built across Spain during that period. The regional administration continues to target the construction of 50,000 public homes throughout the legislative term, overseen by Territory, Housing, and Ecological Transition Minister Sílvia Paneque. Illa also cited the implementation of Catalonia's €49.162 billion budget, the largest in the history of the Generalitat, alongside ongoing expansion projects for Barcelona-El Prat Airport, the ports of Barcelona and Tarragona, Line 9 of the Barcelona Metro, and the Rodalies commuter rail network.

Education reform and school climate adaptation

In education, Illa announced an initiative to negotiate an all-party agreement to reform the regional school system through the Consell d'Educació de Catalunya. The announcement follows tensions with teacher unions and regional fallout after Catalonia was excluded from the latest PISA assessment because 23% of sampled students were omitted from testing. Illa reaffirmed a commitment to increase public spending on education to 6% of Catalan gross domestic product, meeting the benchmark set in Catalonia's 2009 education law. The government also committed €2.558 billion to install climate-control systems in more than 2,500 public schools and regional public care homes before the 2030–2031 academic year.

Hatred generates no solution, it does not build public housing, it does not improve neighbourhoods, it does not build schools or open businesses.

Political pressures and rising opposition

The mid-mandate reset coincides with shifting parliamentary dynamics and electoral headwinds for the governing Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC). A Sigma Dos survey published on 11 September showed the PSC projected to lose 11 seats compared to its May 2024 election result, with the far-right pro-independence party Aliança Catalana, led by Ripoll mayor Sílvia Orriols, positioning to become the second-largest party in the regional parliament. The regional administration has also confronted administrative turnover, including the recent dismissal of the deputy education minister following the PISA data error and the resignation of Mossos d'Esquadra director general Josep Lluís Trapero. To address labor changes, Illa additionally announced the creation of an official algorithm registry to regulate artificial intelligence in the workplace.