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Government

Spanish economy 29th March 2022

Sánchez Puts The Cost Of The War Response Plan To Be Approved By The Government Tuesday At 16 Billion Euros

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez yesterday outlined the main lines of the Shock War Response Plan to be approved today by the Council of Ministers. The plan contains measures until 30 June aimed at cushioning the impact of the crisis on families and businesses. The plan is worth 16 billion euros: 6 billion euros in direct aid and tax reductions, and 10 billion in ICO credits. It has five main pillars:…

Government

Spanish economy 24th March 2022

The Government Has Too Many Bills Coming Due

Fernando González Urbaneja | It is like a creditors’ meeting, which never comes at a good time. The government has too many bills coming due for which it is short of liquidity, i.e. votes and parliamentary and social support. The weekly control session in Congress demonstrated the loneliness and, above all, the feeling of incomprehension, mental fatigue and surprise of a Prime Minister who is not short of self-esteem. Nothing…

Lamanodedios

Spanish economy 19th March 2022

“Saving The PSOE”

On 1 October 2016, the day the PSOE executive kicked Pedro Sánchez out of the party’s general secretariat (his subsequent revenge would be merciless) El País defined Sánchez’s profile in its editorial “Saving the PSOE”: “The inevitable and legitimate dismissal of Pedro Sánchez is the only way out for the party”. “The departure of the PSOE’s secretary general, Pedro Sánchez, is essential…. Sánchez has not turned out to be a…

Sanchez Feijoo

Spanish economy 14th March 2022

New Leader Of The PP Debuts With An Agreement With The Government, Which Agrees To Lower Taxes

Yesterday, during the meeting of the Summit of Autonomous Community Presidents held on the Canary Island of La Palma, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez proposed a change in his fiscal policy by proposing a tax cut, set out in the so-called Declaration of La Palma. Sánchez has not specified what this tax cut the government is working on will entail. He has limited himself to assuring it will alleviate the “sectors…

sanchez

Spanish economy 8th March 2022

A Pact On Incomes, A Question Of Methodology

Fernando González Urbaneja | Sánchez’s speech in Parliament on Wednesday could go down as one of the most consistent and substantive speeches of his term in office. Then he remained in the debate on the arms shipment to Ukraine, which was an important aspect, but not the most important or the only one. The arms shipment was a rectification, not unusual for Sánchez, of the position he had maintained 48…

Sanchez

Spanish Politics 7th March 2022

New Division In The Government: Podemos Accuses The PSOE Of Being “A Party Of War”

Podemos is raising the tone of its disagreement with the PSOE within the Government over Spain’s position on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The minister and secretary general of UP, Ione Belarra, upped the ante in her challenge on Sunday. She called the Socialist Party a “party of war” for having decided to send arms to Ukraine, as the vast majority of European countries have done. With this accusation, the…

Lamanodedios

Spanish economy 4th February 2022

Forms And Reforms

A.J.A. | An Argentine friend of mine once asked me why I thought his country was not coming back from the precipice. “To put it simply, Alfredo, if a country’s greatest pride is Maradona’s “hand of God” against England…. It’s fucked.” He nodded, silently. There was little to discuss. Yesterday Spain had its own “hand of God”, one of those images for the gallery destined to mark an era. To…

ABC

Spanish Politics 20th January 2022

ABC Denounces La Moncloa’s Veto Of Media “Not in Tune”

ABC | This past Tuesday, January 18, ABC was excluded from a briefing given by several high-ranking government officials on the management of European funds. Media such as Cadena Cope, Onda Cero, El Mundo, La Razón, The Objective, Libertad Digital, Agencia Servimedia and Agencia Colpisa were also not invited to the meeting, which was attended by more than a dozen media outlets whose representatives had the opportunity to listen and…

Alberto Garzón

Spanish Politics 11th January 2022

No Minister

J.P. Marín Arrese | Politicians coming into office usually trust the advice of professional and seasoned civil servants, thus preventing ill-judged decisions or blunders likely to ruin their careers. Top aides excel at dismissing fancy ideas while pretending to obey them. That is the case in Germany, the UK or France. Alas, in Spain, they seldom follow that pattern, preferring to surround themselves with friends and inexperienced party fellows. If…

sanchez euco

Spanish economy 3rd December 2021

Government Optimism Against The World

Fernando González Urbaneja | A few weeks ago the European Commission’s forecasts on the performance of the member states’ economies were a cold shower for the Spanish government’s optimism. It preaches that the economy is doing better than well, that the future is one of more than recovery and that Spain is amongst the best in the class. The government bases its arguments on two facts: employment is going well,…