of the conservative People's party. Economists argue about whether the cost of independence would be higher or lower than the _16bn a year, and whether Catalonia could finance its debt on the global markets. But all parties at Sunday's regional elections, including the Catalan branch of prime minister Mariano Rajoy's People's party, argue it deserves a bigger slice of the tax cake. Yet the Balearic Islands and the Madrid region have even higher fiscal deficits, and they are not threatening independence. So what happened to solidarity and redistribution of wealth? "If the left has talked about lowering income tax, why shouldn't it talk about this too?" asks Miquel Iceta, who heads the Catalan Socialists' Rafael Campalans thinktank. His party, which proposes a new federalist constitution for Spain, is heading for its worst result at these elections. "If Catalonia is third in the list of those who prove tax income, it can't appear in 10th position among those who receive money back to pay for its expenses," says Joan Saura, a former Catalan government member from the left-leaning Initiative for Catalonia Greens party. But he criticises the way the regional government of President Artur Mas, which has some tax powers, raises money directly in Catalonia. "In Catalonia you can inherit _5m without paying any tax -- but if a child takes their own lunch to school they still get charged _3," he said. Mas says that money alone will not fix the divide with the rest of Spain. "Part of the