Pedro Sánchez highlights the commitment to put Spain at the forefront of the aerospace industry and make the sector "a true state policy"

National Institute for Aerospace Technology (INTA), Mazagón (Huelva)

The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, underlined the government's commitment to "putting Spain at the forefront of the aerospace transport industry" during his visit to the facilities at the National Institute for Aerospace Technology (INTA) in Mazagón (Huelva). Sánchez highlighted the strategic nature of the aerospace sector for the productive and industrial transformation of our country, and the government's objective of making it "a true state policy".

The chief executive, accompanied by the Minister for Science and Innovation, Diana Morant, took part in the presentation of the launch base of the company PLD Space, held at the INTA's El Arenosillo Centre for Experimentation of Aerospace Vehicles and Atmospheric Research (CEDEA).

In his speech, Sánchez stressed that today Spanish aerospace is a "powerful and competitive" industry, with a total economic impact exceeding €13 billion in 2020 - 1.2% of Spanish GDP and 5.4% of industrial GDP - and the capacity to provide 155,000 direct and indirect jobs, many of them highly specialised. He also pointed out that investment in R&D&i in Spain has already reached €1.5 billion.

The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, during his visit to the launch base of the company PLD Space | Pool Moncloa / Fernando Calvo

Among the initiatives launched by the government in this sector, he referred to the Aerospace PERTE, which he pointed out will mobilise more than €4.5 billion until 2025 to respond to key challenges in the sector, including environmental control, quantum communications and security in international cooperation, and to "contribute to our positioning on the European map".

The President of the Government also highlighted the creation of the Spanish Space Agency - located in Seville as part of the process of territorial distribution of state institutions set in motion by the government - the statutes of which were approved by the last Council of Ministers. In the president's words, the agency is "a historical claim of the Spanish aerospace sector, to which the executive has finally responded", and it is essential to provide continuity to scientific and industrial projects, to have a high representation in international organisations and to develop a true national space policy.

Remembrance of the victims of 11M

The President of the Government began his speech at the event with a heartfelt remembrance of the victims of 11M, the biggest terrorist attack in our history, which took place 19 years ago today. "Today, as every 11 March, we pay tribute to the victims, we feel the pain of their families and friends as our own, and we join together to make a call for the strength of democracy to conquer fanaticism, extremism and intolerance," he said.

Non official translation