The president of the Xunta, Alfonso Rueda, will meet this Friday in La Moncloa with Pedro Sánchez for the first time since he crowned his absolute majority last February. He will attend the meeting to listen to any “offer” that the president of the Government puts to him regarding the financing of Galicia or regarding a reduction of its public debt, but the Galician baron of the PP already anticipates that, in line with the direction of his party, in these matters the agreement will not be possible. Regarding the distribution of funds between communities, Rueda will only sign “an agreement between all” the territories. He will also reject, if offered, the forgiveness that the BNG extracted from the PSOE to support Sánchez’s investiture. “I am not interested in a reduction of the debt, I am interested in being well financed,” he argued this Tuesday in Santiago in an interview with the director of EL PAÍS, Pepa Bueno, within the forum. The economic challenges of Galicia organized by this newspaper.
The director of EL PAÍS has reminded Rueda that the public debt in Galicia stands at 4,582 euros per inhabitant. The Galician president maintains that a possible debt write-off “does not solve Galicia’s financing problems” and, in his opinion, is only “advantageous” for the coalition government and Catalonia, with an “infinitely higher” debt. “If there is money, I prefer that it be invested in other things,” he assures. Nor will he accept from Sánchez changes in the financing of Galicia that do not come from an agreement between all the autonomous communities. The president of the Xunta believes that an offer in this sense only seeks to “divide” the different territories (most of them governed by the PP) and “legitimize what is being done in Catalonia, which harms Galicia.”
In relation to the economic challenges facing the Galician community, Rueda advocates “not relying on a single strategic sector” and “combining traditional sectors”, such as fishing or agriculture, “with green energy”. “We have a great future ahead of us if we do it well”, he argued. Regarding the cascade of judicial paralyses of wind power projects that Galicia is suffering, with 59 parks blocked so far, the president of the Xunta has expressed his displeasure, confesses that he does not understand them and stresses that these are measures that the courts “are not taking” in other communities in similar circumstances.
Rueda has warned that the halting of these projects and others such as the cellulose plant that the Portuguese company Altri intends to build in Palas de Rei (Lugo) could cause Galicia to miss the industrialisation train again, as happened, he recalled, with the two previous great cycles that caused so much emigration. He promises that these initiatives criticised by environmental and neighbourhood groups will be “examined closely” by the Xunta: “I fully understand the misgivings. In the past there have been failed projects or projects that have not compensated with the benefits they have brought. That is why we now want to be especially strict.”
The president of the Xunta admits that Galicia is experiencing a tourism boom, but he still sees the possibility that the sector “continues to grow” and, at the same time, “preserves the values that make people” visit the community. As a measure to prevent this boom from getting out of hand, Rueda is not convinced by the implementation of the tourist tax that is already in place in other European cities. He questions its effectiveness and prefers to try to de-seasonalise visits with promotional campaigns outside the high season. However, he is studying the request submitted by the mayor of Santiago, Goretti Sanmartín (BNG), for the Galician Government to authorise its implementation. He will respond to her request before the end of this month, announces Rueda. And he advances that if it is accepted, it will be the City Council that collects and manages it, allocating the money “to purposes that have to do with tourism and in consensus with the sector”.
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Alberto Núñez Feijóo’s successor in the Xunta has entered the migration debate asking Sánchez for “planning” but without talking about expulsions: “[Los inmigrantes] They are necessary, because they even have the right to come here and know that they will be able to establish themselves because they come in an orderly manner.” In relation to this and other issues, he does not believe that his political mentor has radicalised his discourse since he has been in Madrid: “I do not notice him changing. His approaches remain the same. It is up to each person to have the perception they have of him.” He sees the leader of the national PP “with ideas as clear” as when he was leading the Xunta and does not appreciate “any radical change in his thoughts or in his philosophy.” He does think that in the capital of Spain a “somewhat centripetal way of seeing politics” is prevailing.
The forum The economic remains of Galicia The event, organised by EL PAÍS, was held over two days in Vigo and Santiago. This Tuesday, two roundtable discussions on the future of the energy sector and the development and application of artificial intelligence took place in the Galician capital, with the participation of university experts, businesspeople, researchers and policy makers.
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