Mariano Rajoy says that the decisions by his government have helped local councils implement social policies

Lower House of Parliament, Madrid

The leader of the Grupo Socialista [Socialist Group] in the Lower House of Parliament, Pedro Sánchez, asked the President of the Government about the policy being developed by the Government of Spain with regard to the local council authorities. In his reply, Mariano Rajoy gave a positive assessment of the policy and also recalled that, when he took office as President of the Government, "many local councils were in dire straits". The President of the Government also said that order was returned to both the public accounts via the Stability Act and to the regime of local authority powers via the Local Administration Act. Furthermore, debts have been met via the Supplier Payment Plan.

The President of the Government added that an initiative was recently launched that will enable the regional governments to settle their outstanding debts with the local authorities, "above all those related to social services".

Furthermore, Mariano Rajoy underlined one figure that he believes is very important: the local authorities went from a deficit of 0.4% in 2011 to a surplus of 0.5% in 2014. In other words, "they met their deficit targets, they met their debt targets" and "this has been essential in allowing Spain to meet its national targets" and "essential to the recovery of the Spanish economy and job creation".

2.9 billion euros destined to railways in Catalonia

The Member of the Lower House of Parliament for Convergència i Unió (CiU) [Catalan Nationalist Party], Pere Macias, brought up the issue of suburban trains in Catalonia (Rodalies). In his reply, Mariano Rajoy said that "the Government of Spain is investing significant amounts in infrastructure in Catalonia". Specifically, 2.9 billion euros on the railways in Catalonia during this legislature; of which, 570 million euros were invested in Rodalies. Almost 90 million euros must be added to this figure in terms of maintenance.

Pool MoncloaMariano Rajoy also mentioned some of the progress made during this legislature on the railway network in Catalonia: implementation of the ERTMS system on the suburban railway network in Barcelona between Hospitalet and Mataró; the start of track doubling works on Line R3; authorisation of works on the El Prat Airport shuttle train; and refurbishment of platforms at the Paseo de Gracia station.

According to the President of the Government, "we have concentrated on the Rodalies de Cataluña suburban rail network because it is the largest, with 670 kilometres and 145 stations, used by over 105 million passengers every year". He went on to say that in contrast, investments in transport by the Regional Government of Catalonia fell by 65% between 2011 and 2013.

As regards the failures in the Rodalies service on 21 May, Mariano Rajoy explained that it was the result of "a software fault at the control centre during a scheduled maintenance procedure". Steps were taken immediately, added the President of the Government, and systems were swiftly returned to normal. At any event, "as soon as the incident was resolved, we reviewed the action protocol and finally called on the contractor to duly respond. We have launched a process in which the penalty could even result in the contract being rescinded".

The Government of Spain will maintain its policy

In response to a question from the Member of the Lower House of Parliament for the Grupo Mixto [Mixed Group], Sabino Cuadra, the President of the Government said that the economic policy implemented throughout this legislature will be maintained, "given that it is producing results".

Pool MoncloaMariano Rajoy said that his government is "a legitimate government" that has "the support of over 180 Members of this House" and was voted in by "over 11 million Spaniards". The President of the Government also expressed his wish to continue approving laws until the end of the legislature because "ours is a reformist policy and there are many reforms that still need to be undertaken when looking to the future".

Statements to the media

In his statements to the media in the corridors of the Lower House of Parliament, the President of the Government insisted on his intention "to meet the responsibility given to us by the people of Spain and therefore continue governing, continue with the reforms until the end of the legislature" so that "increasingly better results can be obtained for Spanish society as a whole".