The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has caught his ministers by surprise. Nobody knew the intention of La Moncloa to hold two weekly councils of ministers between now and the end of the year, as the Presidency has leaked this Monday. The biweekly meetings began next week, in the middle of the Constitution bridge. And socialist sources consulted by Vozpópuli they assure that it is a simple “marketing operation“.
Sánchez wants to sell executive action. The president will convene the council of ministers on Tuesdays and Fridays. The objective, according to La Moncloa, is “to accelerate the activity of the Executive” to advance in the “consolidation of the economic recovery.”
The priority of the Government, they say from the environment of Sánchez, is the promotion of economic initiatives that serve to strengthen and promote growth. The president’s environment has advanced that good employment data is expected and affiliation to Social Security in November. The figures will be released on Thursday.
Surprise in the Ministries
The surprise has been great in most Ministries, who were unaware of Sánchez’s plans. They also did not have much information in United We Can, which has had to make several checks with the President’s Cabinet to contrast the information. At first it seemed like a change of dates due to the festive bridge of the Constitution and the Day of the Immaculate Conception. But the two tips will stretch for a few more weeks.
Critical socialist voices do not attach much importance to this initiative. And they consider that it is a cosmetic operation of “electoral marketing”. “Sánchez’s concern is in the polls. They live by and for surveys“, these sources assure.
The government faces a winter of protests, which began last week with the police and which have other strikes on the horizon, such as the truckers’ strike. Inflation continues to skyrocket with energy and fuel prices at record highs.
Brussels has lowered the growth of the Spanish economy to 4.6% this year, 1.6 percentage points less than the estimate released in summer. The European forecast is the most pessimistic published so far and it adds to the wave of downward revisions carried out by official bodies, experts and research services. All are already very far from the 6.5% contemplated by the vice-presidency of Nadia Calviño by 2021.
European funds and omicron
Another of the problems that Sánchez faces, and worries at La Moncloa, is the arrival of European funds. The Government asked Brussels for the tranche of 10 billion corresponding to European recovery funds two weeks ago. While waiting for the Commission to evaluate compliance with the agreed commitments, this money would be added to the advance of 9,000 million received in mid-August and was not subject to conditions.
The forecasts of study centers such as BBVA-Research are very pessimistic with the execution of this multimillion-dollar rain of millions. AND They estimate that only 10,000 of the 27,000 budgeted will be executed.
The biweekly councils may also address the new variant of the omicron coronavirus. The Government has imposed a mandatory quarantine on travelers from southern Africa, the origin of this strain. The behavior of omicron in Spain is still unknown. The cumulative incidence at 14 days is already close to 200 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. And the Community of Madrid has confirmed the first contagion by this variant in our country.
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