The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has returned to the Congress control session after almost a month without facing questions in the Plenary. The leader of the opposition, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, criticized in his turn that Spain “is at the bottom of the EU in investment and infrastructure.” Sánchez responded by quoting Feijóo himself, who said that Spain should reach 22 million social security affiliates, a milestone that was crossed this month. For its part, Junts criticized Sánchez for “doing propaganda” in Catalonia for the progressive forum held last weekend in Barcelona while “disregarding Catalan institutions” and took the opportunity to demand early elections due to the corruption cases surrounding him and for not complying with the agreements reached.
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The PP leader had registered, as usual, a generic question addressed to the President of the Government: “Do you believe the Government makes Spain work?”. However, his question focused on infrastructure investment: “You have had a record increase in taxes and public debt, but Spain is at the bottom of the European Union in infrastructure investment in terms of gross domestic product. Look, where are the 500,000 million euros that have increased public debt if the infrastructures (motorways and AVE) do not work?”, Feijóo asked.
Sánchez stepped forward detailing the “entities and institutions that rate the country’s good progress” and took the opportunity to reproach Feijóo for not celebrating Spanish employment data: “Spain must exceed 22 million social security affiliates by the end of the next legislature, that’s what Mr. Núñez Feijóo said. One year before the end of the legislature, Mr. Feijóo, we have achieved it. We have 22 million social security affiliates,” Sánchez defended before indicating that “with this Government, Spain works.” “What doesn’t quite work is an opposition that has been confusing its desires with reality for years,” the President of the Government snapped.
Feijóo continued in his response with incidents in commuter trains, Rodalíes, and AVE and referred to the victims of Adamuz. “Do you really believe that Spaniards deserve that with our security money, the friends of the former Minister of Transport are paid, or that we pay the salary of the current minister, who dedicates himself to insulting everyone on social media? The only thing more shameful than your corruption is your lack of humanity. You are relentless in collecting, you are insensitive to people’s problems,” said the PP leader before pointing out that “the only thing that matches your corruption, Mr. Sánchez, is your incompetence.”
The head of the Executive has finished his responses to the leader of the opposition by reproaching the agreement reached with Vox in Extremadura for the investiture of María Guardiola: “You offer Extremadura and Spain lessons in constitutionalism, and the first thing you do is kick the Constitution, violating the principle of equality between citizens and the principle of non-discrimination,” in addition, he reproached that the PP seeks to dismantle public services: “You finance yourselves illegally and want undeclared workers,” Sánchez concluded.
For her part, Junts spokesperson, Míriam Nogueras, criticized the President of the Government for using Catalonia “to do propaganda” for the progressive forum held last weekend in Barcelona while, she says, he “hides and disregards Catalan institutions.” “You drown the middle and working class with taxes, but public services are worse than ever. You worsen the housing problem, stifle the self-employed, ignore doctors, teachers, farmers, fishermen. You impoverish people to then subsidize them. And that is not our country model,” said Nogueras, who continued criticizing the extraordinary regularization of immigrants. “You have been in power for too long without a majority, Mr. Sánchez, due to the entire right-wing that makes deals when it suits them, breaks agreements, approves policies behind the back of this Parliament, but does not apply the policies that are approved. And the icing on the cake of this whole panorama are the corruption cases surrounding you. What democratic argument do you have left, Mr. Sánchez, not to call elections?”.
Sánchez responded to Nogueras by defending the regularization of immigrants with the argument that migrants contribute to economic growth: “We are seeing that Spain, after the pandemic, has been creating an average of more than half a million jobs, has been able to reduce the unemployment rate and, at the same time, increase the contribution of migration to our country’s economic growth. Madam/Sir, of course, this Government is going to recognize rights that will make Catalonia and Spain better countries.”
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