Interview with Acting President of the Government on 'Canal Extremadura'

PEDRO SÁNCHEZ, Acting President of the Government.

Interviewer: Miguel Veríssimo

Question: Good evening, how are you? Welcome to this special programme on Canal Extremadura. A special programme that we are recording from the Tourism Parador [State-run luxury hotel] of Caceres where we are going to ask the Acting President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, about the issues and problems that affect the people of Extremadura.

Pedro Sánchez, Acting President of the Government. A very good evening to you. How are you?

Acting President of the Government: A very good evening. It is a pleasure to be here with you.

Q: This morning you inaugurated the 566th edition of the Zafra International Livestock Fair. How was your experience at the trade fair?

Acting President of the Government: Well, my first feeling was one of astonishment. And I say that in the best sense of the world. I found it astonishing that it has been held for the last 566 years; I also found the turnover in just four days astonishing: 200 million euros and 800,000 visitors. In short, I find it astonishing that, in the end, just one trade fair showcases such an important, such a powerful and such a competitive sector as the agri-food sector in our country. I feel that Extremadura has a great trade fair which, in the end, mirrors a great competitive sector as is the agri-food sector in our country.

Q: I imagine that during your visit you will probably have found the time to talk with representatives of the countryside in Extremadura. You will also have heard the opinions, the reality, of farmers and livestock breeders. They will have conveyed to you some of the current issues affecting farmers and breeders, such as the case of cava [sparkling wine] from Extremadura and this conflict with Catalonia.

And also the issue of the customs duties that the United States Administration is imposing on such items as olives and cheese. What solution can the Government of Spain offer them to these problems?

Acting President of the Government: Well, the Acting Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has also met with the sector this morning, and has been on the Breakfast News where he has offered some responses to the questions you posed, hasn't he?

Firstly, in relation, for example, to the Common Agricultural Policy, at present we are in the negotiation stage with the European Commission and the other Member States.

It is true that there is a factor of instability and uncertainty, which is whether, in the end, the United Kingdom will leave or not. We should remember that the United Kingdom is a net contributor to the EU Budget and so, if it leaves, and more so without an agreement, then clearly the Budget will be affected.

What is our goal? Furthermore, I said this to the whole sector present at the trade fair, what we are going to do is fight to maintain the current Common Agricultural Policy budget. What does that mean? First, the amount. Second, the profitability of holdings. Three, we need to adapt, to take a new look at the CAP, incorporating environmental and environmental sustainability criteria which I feel are very important. I am referring, for example, to the question of drought that you raised. And finally, we need to try and incorporate young people and also give greater visibility to women in the primary sector in our country.

Q: And regarding the situation of this ongoing conflict with cava from Extremadura, what solution can you offer? Why have the criteria now changed from…?

Acting President of the Government: Well, I feel that we have found a balanced solution. You must remember that this is a question raised by the designations of origin at a supra-regional level. What we have done is provide self-regulation.

Unless I have my facts wrong, and according to what I have been told by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, we are talking about production of some 3.3 million bottles of cava, and the target capacity is more than 15 million bottles of cava.

Well, I feel that there is a large margin for improving production and, at any event, I think that the solution offered by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food is balanced.

Q: Acting President of the Government, one of the claims made from the countryside, and also from the farming companies and all the people of Extremadura, as you are aware, is the train, the capacity to have these infrastructures not only for travel purposes, but also to export. What is the current situation of the railway in Extremadura and when will the people of Extremadura finally have a minimum train service?

Acting President of the Government: Well, first of all, what we need is a government. That is why we have called fresh elections for 10 November. We are a caretaker government at present but, at any event, in these 15 months what we have done is increase by more than 50% the tenders on those put out by the previous administration in the last six years. In just one year, we have put out to tender an additional 630 million euros.

The commitment of the Government of Spain is to meet the deadlines established with the Regional Government of Extremadura.

It is also true that there is a part of the connection between Madrid and Extremadura that affects another region - Castile-La Mancha - and we are also working on that.

An finally, in this interim period - to put a name to it - what we have done is renew part of the track that is very old and defective and also renew some of the carriages so that people can travel in greater comfort.

I believe, at any event, that the demands of the people of Extremadura are fair. The truth is that it is quite surprising that with all these efforts deployed by the Central Government to improve the railway infrastructure in this country, this hasn't extended to Extremadura. And I feel this is a debt owed by the Government of Spain to Extremadura, which we have started to repay.

But, I repeat, we need a government as from 10 November that offers sufficient stability to put these investments in motion. And also a Budget as soon as possible.

Q: Do you appreciate that the people of Extremadura feel isolated, to a certain degree, and even the 'great forgotten' of the Spanish regions?

Acting President of the Government: Absolutely, And I don't only say that as the Acting President of the Government, but as a user of the roads in Extremadura, but of course it is clear that you need railway infrastructure like other regions have and that Extremadura, inexplicably, doesn't have.

Of course our commitment, and mine personally, and not only politically, is to bring better railway infrastructures to Extremadura.

Q: Not only railway infrastructures, as you said, but also roads, regarding which I have two issues: the Caceres-Badajoz motorway, which is in the hands of the Government of Spain. And also the connection, the dual-carriageway section of the National 430 road between Torrefresneda and Ciudad Real, is part of this debt you also have with Extremadura. What chance is there of resolving this? And within what time frame?

Acting President of the Government: In the end, the first aspect of this is that the Government of Spain has acknowledged and taken on the commitment to this road connection between Caceres and Badajoz, which, inexplicably, was something that hadn't previously been taken on. Secondly, it is clear that we will have to implement, let's say, its remodelling to turn it into a motorway - that is a commitment of the Government of Spain.

And, in relation to the second infrastructure, of course there we are involving other autonomous regions, which may have different opinions; there are even different voices in Extremadura as regards the route. What the government will do is define, once and for all, the route, and then we can start to build the new motorway.

Q: These infrastructures, as they are built, will clearly create more jobs in the region. I am now talking to you about employment. Yesterday we saw the unemployment figures for Extremadura: 4,000 more people out of work; almost 100,000 unemployed in the region. Is now the time for an employment plan in Extremadura?

Acting President of the Government: Of course. But look, what we have done, for example, in these 15 months, above all, before the general elections, when we weren't a caretaker government, I mean, and even then we were using a Budget that wasn't ours. We obtained around 80 million euros which we put in the hands of the provincial councils to create jobs in small- and medium-sized municipalities, above all, to fight this challenges we face called depopulation.

Secondly, the commitment of the Government of Spain, which was contained in the Draft National Budget which did not receive majority parliamentary support because the PP, Ciudadanos and also the pro-independence Catalan forces voted against it, provided for this Employment Plan for Extremadura, and that remains our commitment.

Meanwhile, our Minister for Work who, by the way, is from Extremadura, from Torremocha, has implemented plans that I believe are important; including a plan to fight long-term unemployment; a plan for dignified jobs, that is, to do away with labour exploitation that a great many workers suffer from in this country, above all, in certain sectors. And also thirdly, a Public Employment Plan.

But clearly, we have done this with the economic resources that we have been able to find in a Budget that is not our own. That is why I feel that in the end all these projects we have on the table will not be possible to implement if we do not have sufficient parliamentary stability to push them through as from 10 November.

Just look, on many occasions in an electoral process, citizens must respond to one question. On 28 April, I believe that we asked the right question which was if we wanted Spain to move forwards with us or backwards with the proposal on the table from the right wing in its three manifestations. And the majority of Spanish citizens committed to the Socialist Party and to progress. In this case, I believe that there are three questions that the Spanish people must decide on with their vote on 10 November.

Firstly, if we want to be released from this stalemate. Secondly, if we want parliamentary stability in a government to be able to implement many of these measures. And thirdly, if we want to consolidate the social volte-face that the current Government of Spain has implemented over the last 15 months. And we are going to work to this end. We are going to propose a positive campaign, we are not going to talk about reproaches or regrets about what might have been, but unfortunately wasn't. I feel that it is important that on 11 November, the day after the elections, the Spanish people are aware that there is a government in Spain, and can breathe easily.

Q: You have mentioned the elections. Do you appreciate that people are fed up at having to go back and vote again?

Acting President of the Government: Not only do I understand this, but I share this discontent and this frustration, because the Spanish people spoke out loud and clear on 28 April, in a political landscape, moreover, with five parties. And the Socialist Party obtained almost 29% in aggregate terms; in Extremadura it was even higher, above 30%, whereas the second political force, in this case the People's Party, won 16% of the vote. We have twice the number of seats of the second largest political force. In other words, there was no alternative to a Socialist Party government.

What did I propose? I proposed a progressive government, that was cohesive and stable.

What does a progressive government mean? Well, a government headed up by the Socialist Party but which logically proposes other left wing political organisations at its preferred partners. Second, a cohesive government, above all with the challenges we face, such as the issue of Catalonia; so, a government that shares the same vision, that does not have internal disagreements on such important issues as co-existence in Catalonia. Can you imagine, for example, right now with what we are facing that we have part of the government defending the Constitution, and another part saying there are political prisoners in Catalonia? Because that is quite a serious disagreement, don't you think?

And lastly, stability. On many occasions, logically, and citizens aren't aware of this, but the parliamentary arithmetic that led to this government formation that Pablo Iglesias advocated meant that the stability of the Government of Spain rested on the pro-independence forces.

Hence, of course, I found myself faced with the conundrum of forming a government for an investiture or forming a government for a term of office. And I honestly believe that the most important thing is stability, and that we don't depend regarding the key aspects for the stability of a government on forces that neither share the same agenda as us, nor, clearly, a common project for our country.

Q: What has failed that has meant no government? Or, to put it another way, what needs to change so that, after 10 November, given a similar outcome, we can invest a government?

Acting President of the Government: Let's see. Firstly, what has failed is that other political forces have not taken on their own share of responsibility and the election results. Or at least, out of these five parties, only one took on its share of responsibility, which was the Socialist Party, that won the elections. The People's Party and Ciudadanos clearly said "no", when, furthermore, they knew that there was no alternative, because they could not gain a majority even with the far right, which is their only possibility of governing - which is what they are doing, moreover, in some cities in Extremadura and in other parts of Spain - and hence, they opted for a "no".

And quite clearly Unidas Podemos did not want a government; they wanted their government. Some people have said to me about whether we would sleep easily or not. In colloquial terms I meant the following: first, as I said before, Spain needs a cohesive government; we cannot disagree on things that are as important for the future of our nation as co-existence in Catalonia, for example.

And two: Look, I would prefer a coalition government. Initially, and I said this, I always said that a coalition government was not a good idea but in the end I said okay, that we would have a coalition government but then, of course he demanded that in order to accept this coalition government he wanted the Public Treasury; two that he wanted Social Security and hence, the country's pensions. And three, he wanted energy policy and the ecological transition which are defining elements of a government's actions, and for a political party that has no experience in power or which, where it has governed things haven't gone very well, I rightly believe that these were things I couldn't take on board.

I have been flexible to the point that I believed I could guarantee these three principles: a cohesive government, stability and the provision of a progressive response to the core elements that define a political project.

Q: Pedro Sánchez, Acting President of the Government of Spain, thank you for coming to Canal Extremadura and giving us your time.

Acting President of the Government: Thank you very much; it has been a pleasure.

(Transcript edited by State Secretariat for Communication)

Non official translation