Pedro Sánchez: "This is a Government that has made social progress its guiding principle"

Lower House of Parliament, Madrid

During the Government Control Session in the Lower House of Parliament, the President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, highlighted the Government's commitment to social progress, which may be "uncomfortable" for certain "elites" who, in the president's view, oppose the increase in the minimum wage, the revaluation of pensions, the strengthening of the welfare state or the approval of laws that benefit social harmony.

In his response to Alberto Núñez Feijóo, a member of the People's Party Parliamentary Group, Pedro Sánchez pointed out that the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has improved its growth forecast for Spain, and that 22.3 million people are registered with and contributing to Social Security. "We are at the highest point in our country's democratic history," the President of the Government of Spain asserted.

Furthermore, in response to MP Mertxe Aizpurua of the Euskal Herria Bildu Parliamentary Group, the head of the Executive emphasised that "this is a government that makes social progress its roadmap, its very DNA, in its legislative work". He also highlighted the Government's firm stance on other matters of political and social significance: "This is a government that speaks out against the genocide in Gaza, against the trampling of international law, against the violation of human rights, that says no to 5% of Gross Domestic Product being spent on defence within the framework of NATO, that is processing in the General Courts nothing less than a law to protect our young people from the hoaxes, disinformation and rubbish circulating on social media".

Improved regional funding and recognition of co-official languages

Pedro Sánchez alongside the First Vice-President and Minister for Economy, Carlos Cuerpo, the Third Vice-President and Minister for Ecological Transition, Sara Aagesen, and the Minister for the Presidency, Justice and Parliamentary Relations, Félix Bolaño | Pool Congreso

In response to Míriam Nogueras, a member of the Junts per Catalunya Parliamentary Group, the President of the Government of Spain stated that the Government is committed to regional funding.

"The Government of Spain has done three things," Pedro Sánchez stated before the Plenary Session of the Lower House of Parliament. "The first was the advance payments made at the penultimate Council of Ministers, totalling over €160 billion for all the autonomous communities; a proposal for debt relief, and a proposal for regional funding, increasing transfers by more than €20 billion," the President of the Government of Spain listed.

Furthermore, Pedro Sánchez referred to the initiative launched by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation to have Catalan, Basque and Galician recognised as official languages by the institutions of the EU. "The Government has put forward the option of directly funding the use of these languages in EU institutions from the national budget, because they are constitutional languages," said the President of the Government of Spain.

Pedro Sánchez has expressed "deep respect - as it should be - for Catalan, Basque and Galician" and pointed out that, thanks to the initiative of various parliamentary groups, it is now possible to use the co-official languages as a matter of course in the Lower House of Parliament.

Non official translation