With background music from the Verano azul series enlivening the wait for those attending, the president of the Popular Party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, arrived in Barcelona this Monday to close a sector event on the economy in the Casa Seat auditorium in which He has promised to reduce the tax burden on workers and businessmen and make the number of Social Security affiliates reach 22 million.
"Spanish families have been impoverished compared to 2019", said Feijóo, for whom "the reality is that the Spanish economy has stagnated in the last five years", for which he has proposed, among other measures, reversing the current brain drain and attract foreign talent with more investment to create quality employment. "Spain must become a preferred destination for foreign investment, intensifying its commitment to research and development", he stated.
Feijóo, who has greeted with a "bon dia" that has received widespread applause from the public, has reeled off the main proposals of his economic program, summarized in a "different economic policy" from that of the coalition government of PSOE and Unidas Podemos. "El Prat airport must become one of the most important in the world", was his nod to the Catalan audience ahead of 23-J, without forgetting a reference to the importance of tourism for GDP.
His priority will be to create jobs, attract investment and promote the economy to improve the quality of life of citizens, assured Feijóo, who has criticized the obsession with the "identity narrative" of the leaders of the procés, which has distracted the whole of the Catalan society of progress objective. "We have to achieve the maximum possible growth of the Spanish economy, above the European average, to face the obligations in deficit and competitiveness", he has planted.
In this sense, the "havoc" of the independence movement has been added, in his opinion, by the economic policy of the Government of Pedro Sánchez. "We cannot boast of anything if we are the second country from the bottom in terms of economic growth in the euro area," asked Feijóo, who recalled that Spain is one of the most indebted states in the European Union and leads the unemployment ranking, for what has been proposed as a goal for Social Security to reach 22 million affiliates.
"Economic stagnation distances us from the most prosperous countries and economies like Poland will soon overtake us," stressed the head of the opposition, who referred to the drop in investment and family consumption as symptoms of the economic decline that has diagnosed. "We have intense storm clouds on the horizon," described Feijóo, who has proposed a "renew plan" for the hospitality industry as one of the axes to deepen economic growth.
Stability, legal certainty and responsible government are the recipes for getting out of this situation, as highlighted by Feijóo, who has shown confidence in the future of Spain and has recalled the reformist baggage of the PP governments: "We have been one of the major world economies thanks to the reforms committed to joining the euro", he recalled.
But Feijóo also wanted to highlight the strengths of Spain, which is a world power in clean energy, despite the fact that it has ruled out giving up nuclear energy, and thanks to them it can solve the problem of water scarcity, which will be its first priority. so that it does not get lost in the supply networks. "Spain will continue to be a superpower in terms of quality of life," said Feijóo, who has assured that "companies that are committed to artificial intelligence have a good place to establish themselves in Spain", for which reason he has promised to repeal three measures for each new that it be approved to unravel the excessive regulation that it attributes to the State.
Lowering personal income tax to incomes of less than 40,000 euros, launching an audit of public accounts and slimming down the Government, which today has 22 ministries, are the first measures that the PP will implement if it reaches the government of Spain after the July general elections, Feijóo has announced. "I wanted to present my program in Catalonia, where Sánchez's partners ask for independence (ERC-EH Bildu) or a referendum (Sumar). We know the end of this film and I don't agree, that's why I'm here", he pointed out the popular leader, who aspires for the Catalans and Spaniards to recover "unity" in order to "live better".
The president of the PP of Catalonia, Alejandro Fernández, who highlighted in his presentation the importance of Seat as the economic engine of Catalonia, and the spokesman for the Barcelona City Council, Daniel Sirera, who moderated the round table, also took part in the event. .
Sirera has appreciated the choice of Barcelona by the national leadership of the PP to present the economic program with which the conservative party will contest the general elections on July 23 and that it will apply if Feijóo manages to be the next president of the Government. "Where the PP governs, companies can be set up in record time", praised the Barcelona councilor, who hopes that the facilities for entrepreneurship can be transferred to the whole of the State.
Another of the participants in the event was Joaquín Gay de Montellá, businessman and former president of Foment del Treball (2011-2018), whose name circulated as one of the possible candidates for mayor of Barcelona before Feijóo opted for Sirera. "We have some shadows, but the business world is having a good time: exports have gone very well," said Gay de Montellà, for whom Spain is an "attractive country" despite the adverse geopolitical circumstances.
All in all, the former president of Foment has criticized the fact that the executive branch sometimes attacks, from his point of view, "those who create jobs", something that has been exemplified by what happened during the independence process, during which 8,000 companies, Sirera recalled, left Catalonia.
In addition, as representatives of the world of business and work, Antonio González Torner, an employee of Telefónica, where he has held various positions of responsibility; Rosario Cellier, freelancer in the tourism sector, and Mayte Corbinos, freelancer and founder of AMAR81.
Among those attending the event, which filled the auditorium, were representatives of the Catalan economic world such as Jaume Guardiola, president of the Cercle d'Economia; Antonio Delgado, president of the Círculo Ecuestre, and Antoni Cañete, president of the Pimec employers' association, among other members of the Catalan business sector.
