Press conference by President of the Government after extraordinary European Council on coronavirus

PEDRO SÁNCHEZ, President of the Government.

Good evening and my thanks to the media for coming to this press conference. As you all know, I have just taken part in an extraordinary meeting of the European Council that has been held by video-conference. We have addressed the coronavirus crisis and I can announce to you that in the coming days the European Commission and also the Eurogroup will announce different packages of joint economic and financial measures. But, if you agree, I will speak about Europe a bit later.

As you now, we are facing a global health emergency that already affects more than 100 countries and which thus requires a coordinated and multilateral response. This emergency has a health dimension as is obvious, which our main focus is on, to provide care and protection for the lives of our compatriots, particularly the elderly. But it also has an economic dimension, which has been addressed today at the extraordinary European Council, as a result of the health crisis, in terms of production, distribution, transport and also on the finances of the world's largest economies.

Any effective response to this global emergency, as I said before, must also be global, international and it is this integral response, at a global level, and also at a European level, that is essential to defeat this virus.

Allow me to mention firstly how the Government of Spain has been addressing the health dimension of the problem since the month of January. And I will begin by explaining to you the criteria we have followed at all times. The first thing, and the Minister for Health has said this on numerous occasions, has been to trust in the technical advice of the experts. It is the scientific experts who must set the course for us. Including the experts from the World Health Organization, whom the director had the chance to speak with in recent days, and the European experts and national and regional experts in our own country. All the decisions that have been taken and that will be taken during this crisis will strictly adhere to scientific criteria.

The second pillar has been the continuous monitoring of the situation in order to adopt proportional measures at all times. It is important to underline this because the scenarios are not static, they are dynamic, and consequently it has precisely been this daily monitoring, which has now become hourly, that has provided the Government of Spain and also all public authorities with information to adopt measures swiftly yet forcefully.

The third pillar is maximum coordination. You know that under out State of Autonomies, jurisdiction for public health resides in the regional governments, and hence this coordination with each and every public authority, particularly with the regional governments, is primordial. And also this coordination at a European level with our partners, with the other Member States.

Lastly, the fourth criterion is transparent information. This has prevailed over communications both from the government and, in this case, from the Ministry of Health.

Consequently, we are facing a health emergency that we will overcome, but which will be costly, we are facing some tough, difficult weeks ahead of us, but we will prevail and we will do this as quickly as possible and with as little harm as possible as each member of our society - from civil society to all the public authorities - plays their own role. And this role is, firstly, to allow the experts and scientists to advise us of the measures and of the solutions.

Secondly, governments and political leaders must decide, and implement in a fully coordinated fashion, between the different authorities and in complete harmony, everything that we are advised to do by the scientific experts.

Thirdly, civil society, and I would call on them and on all our citizens, must cooperate by following the recommendations made by the experts. It particularly falls to our citizens to take responsibility for adhering to hygiene measures, to following to the letter the instructions on social contact and prioritise attention for the most vulnerable groups which, as you know, are those who suffer from other conditions and thus have weaker natural defences.

In line with these rules, the Government of Spain has delegated the management of this response to the coronavirus to the Ministry of Health and different management and coordination mechanisms have been established within this ministerial department which always follow the criteria dictated, I repeat, because this is important, by the experts.

Firstly, we have the technical monitoring committee which meets twice a day, in the morning and in the afternoon, at the Ministry of Health. You and all our citizens are witness to this because there are press briefings in the morning and in the afternoon, offering absolute transparency in the information provided on the evolution of this public health crisis.

Secondly, an inter-ministerial meeting is held on Wednesdays to strengthen coordination by the Government of Spain, and two weekly meetings have been regularly scheduled, something I would particularly like to stress because it is important, of the Inter-ministerial Committee of the Health System in our country to precisely step up this close relationship that exists between the Government of Spain and all the regional governments.

This is the mechanism to monitor the situation and take decisions, and which has been recording the situation, and which we have developed since the outbreak of the crisis in the month of January. And through this mechanism, the decisions and recommendations that you are familiar with have been adopted and which are adapted at any given time to the seriousness of the problem in any given location.

Consequently, I want to send out a message of confidence to all the people of Spain, to all our citizens, a message of unity, of calm and of stability. If you like, I will be even clearer with a statement which is overriding for the Government of Spain. In order to combat this public health emergency, we will do whatever needs to be done, wherever and whenever it needs to be done. And together, have no doubts, we will overcome this crisis.

Allow me also to refer now to the economic response which this emergency will undoubtedly have. The economic emergency, deriving from the coronavirus crisis and consequently from the response we must give to institutions and the private sector as a whole. As regards Europe and its response to what I referred to before at the start of my speech, I want to say that the Government of Spain has advocated coordinated action, both on healthcare and on economic matters. And I have asked the European institutions to provide mechanisms with sufficient liquidity for small- and medium-sized enterprises which may suffer the negative economic consequences of this public health crisis caused by coronavirus. In other words, we have argued that the Government of Europe - the European institutions - should provide mechanisms with sufficient liquidity for the small- and medium-sized enterprises on our continent and consequently, also in our country.

Furthermore, we hope that all the European Union countries will be allowed some flexibility in the rules on the Stability and Growth Pact, since we are logically going to need to restore the supply chains that may be affected, and take measures related to fiscal policy, above all to strengthen the front line in this fight involving the public health system.

Other ideas have been brought to the table. Today, at the extraordinary Council meeting on European funds to help the citizens affected, for example those who have lost their jobs, the Commission has promised that it will study this in the coming days.

And for our part, the Government of Spain has been working for many weeks now on drawing up an economic action plan to combat the effects of this emergency. I have been aware that - and we must take this on-board with extreme caution because clearly the economic figures are changing daily as a result of the evolution of the public health crisis - different international bodies, such as the OECD, and I have had the chance today to meet with the Secretary-General who is the head of the OECD, have made quantitative estimations of the economic impact of this emergency in each geographic area. All of the forecasts point to the gravity of the consequences, of the impact, but also that this will be temporary. It will have a strong impact, a serious impact, but it will be temporary. As I said before, it is still complex to make an economic assessment with any accuracy of the economic impact that this crisis will have because we cannot say with any certainty how long it may last.

We already know that there are certain sectors that are feeling its effects, such as some services sectors, while others may be affected in the near future by the breakdown of the supply chain, should this finally happen.

At any event, we have scheduled a meeting on Thursday with the social stakeholders, with business leaders and with trade unions so that they can take part in providing a response to the economic emergency by agreeing on a series of measures that avoid irreparable damage to affected companies and also, logically, to mitigate the effects on workers and small- and medium-sized enterprises.

I can announce to you that the action plan that the Government of Spain is working on, and which we will logically agree with the social stakeholders, will include measures in four main areas that we will approve over the course of this week, also in line, and it is important to underline this, with what will be approved at a European level by the European Commission and the Eurogroup.

The four areas of action under this plan are, firstly, steps to earmark resources to protect and guarantee the welfare of Spanish families, particularly of working mothers. We will support them in this difficult, complex situation, providing them with a reduction in the working day, through help in looking after children as a result of the closure of education centres, as we saw in some regions yesterday.

So, to protect and guarantee the welfare of Spanish families, particularly working mums clearly affected by the decision to close schools. Secondly, measures to guarantee the supply and production of medication and access to health material. Thirdly, measures to protect jobs in sectors that suffer a temporary loss of demand. To achieve that, we will adopt procedures on flexibility at work, so that companies can tackle these production and health difficulties without laying off staff, through a reduction in the working day or temporary adjustments. At the same time we will be watching to ensure that no-one uses this type of measure inappropriately in violation of employment rights. Fourthly, we will make a strong commitment with all the resources necessary to support the liquidity of small- and medium-sized enterprises in the productive sector of our country.

We will set up lines of credit to facilitate liquidity to companies and adopt measures to ensure compliance with the tax obligations of companies through deferments and moratoriums. We will not allow the tensions of temporary liquidity to turn into solvency problems for our companies.

Hence, and this is very important, we will give a decisive boost to the liquidity of the productive fabric of our country, and particularly to small- and medium-sized enterprises, and lastly, we are going to provide some specific measures in the field of tourism and transport, which are two very important and sensitive sectors in this current situation, which will receive specific support.

In short, it is a general question of very well thought out measures and actions, adapted to the difficulties as they arise, or that may arise, in different areas of the economy. It is key for our economic fabric to resist this emergency and for activity to be re-launched once we overcome the most intense phase of this health crisis. I repeat, these will be forceful economic measures, firm and decisive support measures for our productive fabric and our workers, but we must be aware that this is a crisis that we hope will be temporary and that between all our countries and public authorities we can halt this as soon as possible.

And before ending, allow me to share a couple of thoughts on what this emergency means for our country and on how, in my opinion, we should tackle it. Look, to overcome a health threat such as the coronavirus requires two conditions: a robust, effective health system and a united, coordinated response from everyone - experts, political leaders and the whole public.

Fortunately the first condition is in place. We have one of the best health systems in the world. We have 330,000 professional doctors and nurses that provide their services at 466 hospitals and 13,000 primary health centres.

This is a large number of professionals (our ratio of doctor per inhabitant is higher than the European average) who, above all, are very well trained, and they are competent and capable. They maintain one of the most prestigious and efficient health systems in the world, according to all the specialist indicators. They are a guaranteed shield we have to fend off common diseases, and also in the case of a health emergency such as the present one.

They are a source of pride to a country and also a shield to protect us from situations we are in and, as President of the Government, I want to acknowledge their work and show my solidarity with their work over these last few weeks of so much pressure that I am sure they have been under.

The second condition I mentioned before is to provide a united and coordinated response between us all. We are facing a large-scale health crisis where individual and compartmentalised solutions have no place. This emergency affects us all and we must all tackle it on a united front because it depends on us; we must follow the direction of the experts.

Faced with this problem, opinions and political hues are useless; what is valid is science and knowledge. We must work side-by-side (and in this regard allow me to say that the Government of Spain is coordinating governments of different political hues, such as in the Region of Madrid and the Basque Country).

The public plays a key role. Each person, each compatriot, can help a great deal to overcome the coronavirus emergency by acting with responsibility - strictly heeding the recommendations of experts and authorities. Each person that follows the rules must be aware that they are protecting, in turn, their health and that of their families, their colleagues, their neighbours and their compatriots.

Before ending, allow me to say a few words to those people affected by the disease, and wish them a full and speedy recovery, and my condolences to the families of those who have died from this virus. The Government of Spain shares the pain of each and every one of them.

I began my speech by referring to those people who work on the front line and I did so with pride and I wanted to end by addressing all the people of Spain to reassure them that the government, the regional governments and all public authorities are fully complying with their duties, taking measures that generate social and economic certainty and the appropriate reaction to the scale of the challenge we face.

We are all aware that this crisis, as well as being a question of public health and of economic uncertainty and instability, is disrupting the everyday habits of our society. But I have not the slightest doubt that we will come out of this united and strengthened.

The waiting room of a hospital does not recognise different ways of thinking, political hues, ideologies or gender. This virus infects people without asking where they were born, where they live or what they think. This problem affects us all as a country and as a country, united and in full coordination and cooperation, we are addressing this.

Because over recent days, the example of coordination by the public powers of different colours and ideologies, the lesson in effort and the professionalism of healthcare workers, and the exemplary behaviour of the Spanish people, united in a common cause, in the general interest, once again shows that Spain is a country capable of tackling the most difficult challenges with unity and guarantees of success.

I will now take any questions from the media.

Q: (Juanma Romero from EL CONFIDENCIAL). First, I would like to ask you about a question that it is supposed should be debated this afternoon, which is the suspension or not of las Fallas in Valencia. I wanted to ask you if a decision has been taken or if it will be left until later. And also whether this government is self-critical because it is being said that you acted too late and even erred in allowing the demonstration on 8 May in Madrid. In fact, some parties have already reproached you; I wanted to know whether the government acted too late and was wrong in allowing this demonstration to go ahead and whether you feel that in such a polarised situation as this, the issue of the coronavirus may become a political battlefield between the different public authorities of the different political parties which also makes it more difficult to fight the virus. Thank you.

President of the Government: Thank you very much, Juanma. As regards las Fallas, I said this before, in my speech, we are in constant contact with the different regional governments, the Ministry of Health with the different health departments of each autonomous region, and the decision taken, as we did last Monday with the Region of Madrid and the Basque Country, has been to close the education centres and take another series of measures, will be made by consensus.

Accordingly, we are in touch with the Regional Government of Valencia, and according to what seems right, not only at a political level, but also, and I feel this is very important, we will be guided by the criteria of the scientific community and of the experts in the region affected and of the Ministry of Health as to the decisions to take.

As regards 8 March, and the question you asked as to whether the government should have acted sooner or later, we should distinguish between two dimensions of the emergency.

The first is a health dimension, which is what concerns and occupies us most; we are making every effort every day, throwing in all our energy and political capabilities.

But there is also an economic dimension. And as regards the health response, I would like to make an exhaustive review, because it is important for the public to know first-hand what the government has been doing from the outset.

On 24 January, before the first case was detected in Spain, the alarms and protection and response plans were put in place, regarding which senior officials from the Ministry of Health and technical staff from all the regional governments revised the protocol of action to be implemented by the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Carlos III Health Institute. On 24 January.

On 28 January, the Ministers for Health and for Science visited the laboratories of the National Microbiology Centre at the Carlos III Health Institute, where work is being done to analyse the coronavirus, so that the public can understand us.

The Ministry of Health met with scientific societies, which we are grateful to for all their work over these recent weeks, all their contributions and all their studies to combat this virus, and with professionals from the foreign health department. Because we should remember that at that time, on 28 January, there was a flight of Spaniards repatriated from the province of Wuhan in China. And immediately the Inter-ministerial Coordination Committee was set up to tackle and monitor this crisis.

This crisis has been monitored daily, as the Minister for Health has said on numerous occasions, because he has appeared on numerous occasions.

We have held 37 meeting of the Ministerial Assessment Committee since 2 February.

The Inter-territorial Committee has met on seven occasions and that is very important, because here we are talking about cooperation with those bodies with jurisdiction over public health, which are the regional governments. We have also held three bilateral meetings with the regional governments of the main hotspots which the virus is currently spreading: the Region of Madrid, the Basque Country, and also Catalonia, and coordination has also been held at an international level.

We have held five meetings with international bodies and we have been in ongoing contact with all our European partners, and with the World Health Organization. And during this time, following a little the line of what I mentioned before on transparent information, because I feel it is very important for the media, and you are doing an excellent job, to faithfully pass on the information to the public, a total of 34 press briefings have been given.

The Minister for Health has given 14 press briefings. He has appeared before the committee in the Lower House of Parliament and will do so again this week. And the Director of the Health Alerts and Emergencies Coordination Centre of the Ministry of Health - Dr Simón - has given 20 press briefings.

On another level, 30 interviews have been given to the media to ensure that the information has been clear, exhaustive and timely. Hence, transparent information. This has been, in my opinion, the most extensive exercise ever in a similar situation in our country.

Then you have the economic response, where, as I said before, the forecasts and figures we had from two days ago are perhaps no longer valid because we are talking about a crisis that evolves, which has a different dimension not just in Spain but in the global economy, and also in the European economy.

Precisely at the European Council today we have spoken about the economic impact that the coronavirus may have on the European economy, and also about the responses we must offer from a perspective of public health because the most important thing is to guarantee and protect the health of people in Europe, and obviously in Spain. And in terms of the economic response, I should tell you, firstly, that the Government of Spain has been in permanent contact with Brussels, with the European Commission, the Eurogroup and also the European Council so that we can activate, as soon as possible and decisively, this raft of economic measures that will be implemented over the next few days, both at a monetary level and at a fiscal policy level by the European Commission. And in line with these measures, well logically the Government of Spain will present its own economic action plan in the next few days, which I mentioned before in the measures to be taken.

So, I honestly believe that the Government of Spain, faced with a difficult and complex crisis, is showing its ability to adapt and to act, I stress, to a crisis that obviously varies as the hours, rather than days, go by.

And in relation to the last of these questions, to the demonstration on 8 March, I mentioned this at the start of my speech. And also when you asked me about the decision to be taken regarding whether las Fallas would be celebrated this year in Valencia. It is very important to follow the recommendations of the scientific community of the autonomous regions affected and also of the Government of Spain, in this case, through the Ministry of Health. That is what we have done. What's more, the instruction I personally gave the representatives and those responsible for public health through the ministry is that we must closely follow the recommendations made by scientific experts. Logically, we are responsible for political decisions because that is why we hold those positions, but clearly these decisions have the scientific backing of the experts. Aside from that, and I have said this before; this crisis is not static but dynamic and shifting and clearly the figures being provided by the different autonomous regions with which we share this information, and also the decisions have made us see that these needed to be taken last Monday, which is what we did in coordination with the Regional Governments of Madrid and of the Basque Country, in relation to the closure of education centres and other questions you are familiar with.

And finally, in relation to the political struggle, I believe that what the Spanish people want to see is unity among all the political leaders. I said this before; this virus does not discriminate on grounds of gender, public opinion, affiliation, Central Government, regional governments… And I also believe that what the public wants is to see all the political leaders working side-by-side to tackle a serious challenge. We are going to have some tough weeks ahead, but the Government of Spain, and this is what I want to pass on to the public, will do whatever is in its hands, wherever and whenever, to overcome this public health crisis as soon as possible, which obviously has an economic impact, and affects our daily lives and the habits of our citizens. And I am sorry that I went on so long in my answer but I feel it is important to also underline the things the departments of the Government of Spain have done since January

Q: May Mariño from Servimedia. President of the Government, you have outlined a little the economic measures you are planning to approve. I don't know if you could give us some more information on the deferred tax payments, because people are worried as they don't know how this will affect their businesses and everything else in the end. And I would also like to know if this might affect the National Budget somewhat, if you will ask for a little more collaboration from the other parties so approve the pending Budget. I also wanted to ask you if you have any message to send out to the people, who have arrived en masse in the supermarkets in view of potential food shortages, which has spread an alarm that the government, let's say, has not really responded to.

President of the Government: Well, thank you for your questions. Let's see, all of the public health measures being laid on the table by the different public authorities will have an economic impact and, I repeat, these are always a result of the recommendations of the scientific authorities, clearly. What is the scale of this impact? Honestly, right now, there is no national or international body that would dare to guess at this impact. So, I believe that we must be cautious and what we should do is convey the utmost commitment of the Government of Spain, and I also want to convey this on behalf of the EU authorities, to respond urgently, swiftly and forcefully so that from the perspective of monetary and fiscal policy, economic activity is affected as little as possible.

What is important, firstly, is the health of our people, which is why we are prioritising all the measures possible to halt the spread of the coronavirus. This is our main goal, to halt the spread of the coronavirus and, aside from that, we clearly want to announce the measures to support workers precisely affected by these drastic measures we are taking. For example, the closure of schools and education centres in some regions. Workers - mothers and fathers - will obviously be affected in terms of a work/life balance which we must respond to. We also need liquidity measures for small- and medium-sized enterprises; we will activate some ICO credit lines. All of the instruments available to us under our economic policy will be placed at the service of providing a quick response to economic activity in our country.

It is true that our economic growth is different from that of other economies in Europe, and I believe that this is important because the strength and the capacity for resilience of the Spanish economy should be valued. But, I stress, the Government of Spain will lay all of the mechanisms on the table to find a quick response to this sudden situation as a result of the decision we have had to take to halt the spread of the coronavirus.

Aside from that, clearly, it would be good news for all our citizens if we could have a new National Budget because we must adapt our economic and fiscal policies to a new reality and I believe that it would be good for all our parliamentary forces, in this spirit of collaboration, coordination and cooperation that we are seeing with the regional governments, to be aware of this.

And lastly, as regards distribution. I believe that the large supermarkets and the distribution chains have been very clear and resolute in saying that there is no problem with the supply of food, and hence, I believe that the only thing the Government of Spain can do is second this message of calm and tranquillity from the large distributors regarding the supply of certain foodstuffs.

Q: Juan Ruiz from "El Periodico". Good evening, you have said a couple of times that we can expect some tough weeks ahead. I would like you to give us some more detail about the scenarios that the government anticipates during this tough and difficult time ahead. And then, you also said that to overcome this crisis will require meeting two conditions: the first is having a robust health system, and you have been clear in saying that this condition is met; but on the second, that of the unity of everyone, I am not sure whether, in your way of thinking, this is being met or the government fears that it will not be met. And in this case, what consequences will it have for fighting this crisis?

President of the Government: Well, thank you Juan for the last of our questions. Quite the opposite; that was not my intention. I believe that the cooperation we are seeing with all the regional governments, of whatever political hue, has been extraordinarily positive. I feel that this is tremendously reassuring for the public as a whole, to see all the public authorities working side-by-side. I stress that all the measures that have been taken and that will be taken by the regional governments, which are those with jurisdiction on health matters, will be backed and supported by the Government of Spain. And I feel that this is important, because it conveys resilience, strength and determination on the part of all tiers of government which is very important, and it conveys a political will, which I believe is at the same level, and which is already sufficiently high from all our healthcare professionals who are on the front line working in hospitals to attend to people who are starting to suffer from these symptoms and who are sick with the coronavirus. Hence, from this point of view, quite the opposite, the only thing I can say is that the Government of Spain is grateful for the collaboration and cooperation of all the regional governments.

I would also say that from the perspective of the political formations, I have not yet had the chance to talk with them. There are many political formations present in the Lower House of Parliament. I will do this in the coming days, but I should say that the will, at least in private conversations, is to fully cooperate with the Government of Spain. I also want to express my gratitude on this point, because regardless of the opposition or of the parliamentary rhetoric, what is clear is that we are talking about a public health crisis, and consequently, we must all send out an unequivocal message and all stand together to defeat this crisis and, above all, to contain the spread of the coronavirus, which is precisely the goal that justifies all the decisions the Government of Spain or the regional governments take. I believe this answers all your questions Juan.

Aah, yes! We will have some tough weeks ahead, which is why I feel it is important to underline this coordination, this cooperation, and also appeal to the civic duty that all citizens have to protect our health and also that of our compatriots by strictly following all the recommendations made by institutions, and also by the scientific experts because by doing this, between us all, we will be able to quickly overcome, with as little damage as possible, the effects that this public health crisis will obviously have, I repeat, not only on certain vulnerable groups, like the elderly, but also on the habits of our families, and also of course on the economic and daily activities of all citizens so, little-by-little we are going to take measures, such as those we have taken today at the Council of Ministers, and those we will take on Thursday, and we don't rule out continuing to take measures, which must be proportional to the challenge we face.

Q: Víctor Ruiz de Almirón from "ABC". Good evening, President of the Government, although you haven't been very pessimistic, quite the opposite, about the unity of politicians, I wanted to ask you, as the leader of the country, if you are thinking about doing anything or designing any mechanism, precisely to guarantee this unity of the political parties, so that, to some extent, the opposition can feel it is taking part in the measures that need to be taken. In this regard, you have been called to appear in the Lower House, I was wondering whether you feel this is necessary and whether you will comply with this request from the opposition. And as regards what Juan asked you about the difficult weeks ahead, does this mean that the difficult weeks we need to get used to will be as a result of an increase in the number of cases of contagion over the coming days, or even weeks? Does the government believe that we are still a long way from reaching the peak in the spread of this disease? What is your forecast? Thank you.

President of the Government: Thank you Víctor. I believe the most important thing is for the public to trust in their public institutions, and what is fundamental to that end is what all the politicians also need to understand, which is that the decisions taken by the Government of Spain and each and every regional government are based on scientific evidence. This might be by scientific leaders, by the experts of the regional government, or the experts that you are familiar with, and the Spanish people are familiar with now, such as Dr Simón, as regards the measures we might take. This is the responsibility of the politicians, of the governments, in other words, we take on this responsibility first-hand, but the confidence I wish to convey to the public is that all the measures we take are based on scientific evidence and they seek to be proportional. This proportionality is complicated when we don't know the true extent of the crisis we are facing in terms of what may happen.

What is our goal? Our goal is obviously to contain the spread of the virus, to which end what we are doing is referenced to the decisions proposed by the experts. What I have done, and what I will systematically do, is speak with all the leaders of the political parties, with each and every one, without excluding anyone. I should also say that since the start of the crisis, that is since January, the Minister for Health has regularly informed not only the regional governments but also the health spokespersons of the different parliamentary groups, and that will be the procedure we follow until the end of this public health crisis. Utmost transparency, both with the public and with the leaders of the different political parties. We will inform you of all the measures we set in motion, and I should also say that we will be grateful for any measures that the opposition proposes to include in the rafts of reforms and action plans that we will approve in the coming weeks. Any constructive contribution that the opposition can make, if they are viable and practical, will be taken on-board, Victor, as our own. Because I consider that if this is something that we can ask the opposition for then it is something we can apply ourselves. What I mean is that it doesn't matter who proposes these measures as long as that they are really measures that contribute to the control of the disease and that they can also alleviate the economic effects they may have on the country as a whole.

As regards any appearances, I repeat, utmost transparency of information. The Minister for Health has already appeared before the Lower House, and will do so again next Thursday, and I repeat, we will always be at the service of the Lower House, but it seems to me that what is important is for the Minister for Health to explain in detail the most important facts and figures because I also feel that the public appreciates this, for scientists and those responsible for the National Health System to explain in greater detail the measures and arguments that explain what has been set in motion by the Government of Spain. Thank you very much.

(Transcript edited by the State Secretariat for Communication)

Non official translation