Reyes Maroto accuses the Xunta of being “absent” in the face of “industry problems”: “It should talk less and do more”
SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, 23 (EUROPE PRESS)
The Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, has accused the first vice president of the Xunta and Minister of Economy, Industry and Innovation, Francisco Conde, of being “absent” in the face of “the problems of the industry” and of “always dealing to seize the good news. “The Xunta should talk less and do more things”, she stated.
In an interview on Cadena Ser collected by Europa Press, the head of Industry of the Government of Spain has responded in this way when questioned by the criticism of the first vice president about the management of the problems of the Galician industry by the central Executive.
“That message says a lot about how the Xunta exercises its powers and in particular the Minister of Industry, who is absent from the problems and instead always tries to appropriate the good news,” Maroto insisted.
For this reason, he has asked “to be aware of the situation that a social majority is experiencing” in the country that “needs public policies” and has claimed that the central government has been “very ambitious” in the General State Budgets to “improve the state of well-being and continue investing in companies”.
Thus, he has lamented that “always putting problems on top of the state administration” supposes, in his opinion, “a failure to assume the powers that one has”, for which, he has sentenced, “the Xunta should speak less and do more stuff”.
Likewise, asked about the extension that the Galician Government has demanded to resolve files related to wind farm projects, Reyes Maroto has asked the Xunta for “responsibility” and “accelerate the approval of those files” to, then, warn that they are “very demanding” with the Xunta, since “the administrations have to give confidence and certainty”.
In this sense, he pointed out that the Government “is doing its homework” with a plan for “more energy security” or by having approved “3,000 million euros more in aid to protect homes and businesses”. “Here what it is about is that we all roll up our sleeves and that with facts we solve the problems of companies and households”, he has summed up.
Regarding energy, the minister has also assured that this winter “there will be no cuts”. “We face these months with certainty”, she stated after communicating that Spain has “a guarantee of supply”.
ALCOA AND STELLANTIS
In relation to the Alcoa factory in A Mariña, in Lugo, the head of Industry has also demanded a “commitment” from the Xunta and has indicated that “not only does it have to be sitting at that (monitoring) table, but it has to put solutions.
So far, he has claimed that “the solutions come above all from the Government” with the “commitment to decarbonisation” or with the recovery of “30 million euros of CO2 subsidies”.
“It is a commitment and I ask the Xunta, when it sits down, to put proposals on the table because the future of Alcoa depends not only on the Government of Spain, but also on an administration that is competent in Industry and that has to demonstrate these skills with facts”, he reaffirmed.
Regarding Stellantis Vigo, Reyes Maroto sees as “very good news” that the Vigo factory will receive “more than 15 million euros” after “the uncertainty of having been left out of the provisional resolution”. Thus, he took the opportunity to congratulate the Stellantis team that “has been able to incorporate into the allegations what had to be improved”.
“ILLUSION” WITH THE NAVAL PERTE
The minister, who has been in Galicia this week to present the Perte del Naval in Vigo and inaugurate the Parador de Muxía, has assured that she has noticed “illusion” with the mentioned Perte.
In this sense, he has defended that from the moment it was announced that “one of the priorities” was going to be the naval sector, “the sector and its value chain found in this project a challenge, but also a way to continue improving its competitiveness and modernization.
Reyes Maroto hopes that the call for this Perte will come out during the month of November, that projects will begin to be financed and “noticing investments on the ground”, which she has said she is “convinced” that “they will be transformed into a workload and new jobs”.
