Pedro Sánchez announces changes in the Health and Industry, Trade and Tourism Ministries

Moncloa Palace, Madrid

Pedro Sánchez has announced the forthcoming appointment of Héctor Gómez Hernández and José Manuel Miñones Conde as new ministers for Industry, Trade and Tourism and Health, respectively. Miñones and Gómez will take over from Reyes Maroto and Carolina Darias to head these portfolios, following the resignation of both ministers to run for mayor of Madrid and Las Palmas, respectively, on 28 May.

The new Minister for Industry, Trade and Tourism, Héctor Gómez, who was already a member of Reyes Maroto's team in this ministry, is currently president of the Constitutional Commission in the Lower House of Parliament.

The new Minister for Health, José Manuel Miñones, holds a doctorate in pharmacy and has been working as a government delegate in Galicia.

Pedro Sánchez described the two as "excellent public servants, with impeccable track records and an unwavering commitment to defending the general interest".

Thank yous to Reyes Maroto and Carolina Darias

The chief executive thanked the ministers Reyes Maroto and Carolina Darias for their work. The former has been part of the government since 2018, and Darias was appointed Minister for Health in January 2021 after having been Minister for Territorial Policy and Public Function.

Among the most outstanding achievements in the field of industry, Sánchez cited the recovery and boosting of this economic sector in the wake of the pandemic, with initiatives such as the Industry Act and the statute for electro-intensive companies. Regarding health, he recalled the €1 billion Primary Care Plan, the INVEAT Plan and the largest number of MIR places in the history of Spain.

The parliamentary team's final stretch

The President of the Government has indicated that with these new appointments the executive will face the final stretch of the legislature by persevering in the objectives announced in his investiture speech: transforming the productive model, strengthening public services, deploying a just ecological transition and advancing in real and effective equality between men and women.

Despite the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and economic uncertainty, Sánchez considered that Spain has been able to move forward thanks to the reforms carried out and the social pacts reached by the coalition government.

€140 billion in European funds is also a great opportunity to create more and better jobs and to achieve stronger and fairer growth.

He also stressed that the Spanish Presidency of the European Union in the second half of this year will allow "the reality of a Spain that is deeply committed to Europe to be projected on the continent and beyond".

Non official translation