Pedro Sánchez has launched the progressive and left-wing agenda to face the uncertainties of the inflationary and energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine and, during his first speech in the debate on the state of the nation, he has deployed a battery of new measures of wide economic and social significance. Those with the greatest political impact are the new exceptional and temporary taxes for banking entities and for large electricity, gas and oil corporations, which plan to collect up to 7,000 million euros over two years. “My commitment is resounding: we will go all out to defend the interest of the social majority. I am going to work hard to defend the middle and working class of our country”, assured the President of the Government.
Realism, closeness, commitment and hope are, in Moncloa’s opinion, the main axes on which Sánchez’s long speech has revolved, with which he has started his first debate on the state of the nation as President of the Government. And he has started like this by showing empathy with the citizens, by assuming the difficulty of the moment. “The tanks are marching on Europe again. Inflation returns to double digits. And the uncertainty returns to enter fully into the homes of Spain. I am fully aware of the daily difficulties of most people. I know that the salary is less and less, that it is difficult to make ends meet, that the shopping basket is more expensive, and that the Spaniards are working their asses off to support their families, their jobs and their businesses”, It has been recognized. “I understand everyone’s anguish, frustration and anger, because it is also mine, I take charge of people’s state of mind”, he assured.
Sánchez has recognized that “today the great challenge is inflation” and its “terrible effects” on the pockets of citizens. But he has stood up to the recipes of the right and the Popular Party in particular, whom he has equated with “healers.” “The healer does not pretend to cure the disease: he wants to benefit from it. The healer tells us that inflation is the government’s fault”, he warned. “This diagnosis will be convincing to some because it is simple and because it comes to reaffirm deep-rooted ideological prejudices among some sectors and widely propagated from powerful media speakers,” he criticized.
The doctors specializing in the economy, contrary to the catastrophism of the healers, assure instead that the runaway growth in prices has been caused by the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, Sánchez highlighted. Without “throwing balls out”, however. “The Government is willing to assume all its responsibility and apply the best solutions to the problem. But we are not willing to apply false, misleading and even less unfair solutions”, he warned.
And it has announced the new battery of measures that the Government will approve and with which, in Moncloa’s opinion, it will give a renewed impetus to the legislature. Thus, the new taxes on banking entities and large energy companies, free Suburban and Rodalies subscriptions between September and December, or the complementary scholarship of 100 euros per month for all students over 16 who already enjoy a scholarship. With this last measure, Sánchez also insists on standing up to “neoliberalism” that he blames on the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso. “This government is not going to allow the suffering of many to be the benefit of a few,” Sánchez assured, with measures that also serve to unite and strengthen the government coalition between the PSOE and United We Can, after their recent disagreements and frictions. “Even if we bother the most powerful, we are going to go for it all,” Sánchez promised.
“We are not going to stop”, assured the Chief Executive. “I have bad news to give to those who work every day to put sticks in our wheels, to deny evidence and to celebrate defeatism. Despite their intense activity, let them know that we are not going to stop and that we are waiting for them in the future”, Sánchez settled.
