In the midst of an energy crisis that threatens to drown the tile sector, the president of the Generalitat, Ximo Puig, announced this Friday that the Valencian Government is willing to participate in the purchase of gas together with the Valencian tile industries to try to cope with the high costs suffered by the sector.
On Thursday, the Ascer tile employer launched a distress message and warned that more than 400 jobs have already been destroyed and there are more than 7,000 employees in ERTE with a very uncertain outlook.
In an act with the media in Castellón, the head of the Consell has raised the possibility that the Valencian Government participate with the ceramics sector in the purchase of gas and has pointed out that this and other aspects that affect the sector will be dealt with in the meeting of the Ceramic Table next Tuesday in Castellón.
Given the novelty exposed, Puig has clarified that the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, “is informed and working on a formula to lower the price of energy”. The Valencian president wanted to assess the management of his party colleague -“he has achieved the Iberian exemption -in electrical matters-” but, after the employers’ criticism of the central Executive, he added: “We need to go much further in the industrial sector”.
In this line, he has indicated that “there cannot be different speeds in Europe when it comes to being competitive, if some industries in certain countries receive more aid than others, that affects competitiveness”.
And he has concluded that given the seriousness of the situation, “the Generalitat is going to act; on Tuesday we will see how, but I announce that we will do everything necessary with structural and palliative measures such as the common purchase of gas.”
Puig’s announcement coincides with the visit of the president of the national PP, Alberto Nuñez Feijóo, to Castellón, precisely to meet with businessmen from the tile sector. The Valencian president was already in Brussels last Tuesday where he called for urgent action from the EU to help the sector. In the middle, the figures for layoffs and ERTEs given by the Ascer employers’ association, show the difficulties of this industry that needs a high gas consumption to function.
