The president of the Business Confederation of the Valencian Community (CEV) has the Valencian agenda firmly set. Financing, water, infrastructure are key, he defends; but it is worthless if there is no voice in Madrid, he comes to say. The employers’ association is working towards this objective, convinced that the Valencian proposal is worth listening to.
What are the great economic challenges facing the Valencian Community?
Valencian society, which is not a demanding society, as the Basque or Catalan society has been, suffers or has suffered from a lack of structure, of working as a team. The fundamental challenge is to be positioned in the institutions of the State in order to, legally and loyally, demand what we urgently need. The Valencian businessman is very innovative, very exporting but also individualistic, and that is one of the weaknesses to overcome. The challenge is to have a voice where decisions are made, in Madrid.
How is the problem resolved?
We are in contact with national media, working to make reference companies known, which there are in the Valencian Community. If they were in other communities like Madrid or Catalonia, they would appear in many newspapers and on many televisions. As representatives of the business world, we have to start leading that. Carlos Mazón’s new executive has understood this and supports us. It is also a political issue.
What are the potentialities of this autonomy?
One, the strategic and geographical positioning, to which are added the Mediterranean corridor or the port of Valencia as examples of our strengths. But do not doubt it, our ability to undertake is the main one.
Does the centralism of the State affect them?
It is difficult to fight for the State to understand the importance of our periphery, which provides wealth to all of Spain. Routine means that when there is an issue, the state media calls the employers’ associations of Madrid or Catalonia. That’s why we have to open the fuse. Because in Madrid they have their vision and there is another vision that is Catalonia and then there is this community that is prepared to provide a vision with its own identity, that we have a loyal position, because we defend being from this community and at the same time giving support to Spain. It is a third way that is neither centralism nor independence and is very positive.
Let’s talk about financing. Do you have hope for a solution?
I am a pessimist. The current political climate does not allow it, it is very polarized. Logic tells me that if the two parties with a vision of the State agree, regional financing will be approved, but they do not want to. And I ask the PP and the PSOE to help us. In the end, if Catalonia does not sit at the regional financing table, it will not be solved. And Catalonia does not want to sit at the table because it wants a bilateral solution, with which we do not agree.
What assessment do you make of the infrastructure situation?
We have made a lot of progress with the Mediterranean corridor and with the expansion of the port of Valencia. But in infrastructure there is a position of weakness in the province of Alicante, which will continue due to the extension of the Budgets. The airports of Valencia and Alicante must be expanded. Listen, if Malaga, with 13 million passengers, has already begun to consider a second runway, Alicante already has 15.
And with the Mediterranean corridor, what situation do you observe?
The Mediterranean corridor will not really exist until there is a through tunnel. And the through tunnel is going to be a 20-year work… and I am falling short. But of course, we are shocked here when there is talk of something about the through tunnel, but Madrid is receiving investments from the State, like in the Chamartín station, which has almost 100,000 million, and no one is shocked.
What urgency is there so that the Valencian productive sectors can be more competitive?
I insist, the infrastructures. The fact that I have a good connection with Madrid means that we lose competitiveness with Catalonia, clearly, because today going to Barcelona is an odyssey. Businessmen also make mistakes because we always speak in economic terms of goods, but they are also passengers, they are citizens. In the Cantabrian corridor, as in all territories, we lack a double track, and if we do not put pressure it will continue to be like this for another 20 years. The proof is that in Valencia-Madrid we have an AVE line and then the freight line, because freight and passengers cannot go together.
We Valencians are behind Catalonia in the installation of renewables.
Many procedures paralyzed by the ideological position of Compromís in the previous Botànic are being unblocked. In the new Generalitat we are seeing a desire to unblock in this sense.
In Ford Almussafes there is one of lime and one of sand.
In these plants, competitiveness is fundamental and this factory has always proven to be productive and competitive, with the undeniable collaboration of the workers. I am hopeful that the bet will continue. It is true that the electric vehicle situation is unstable and I think Ford is waiting a bit to see how the Perte aid also evolves.
Ceramics from Castellón, is there a solution?
The problem in the sector is a structural problem, like that of footwear. And when it is a structural problem, structural solutions must be provided, not only direct aid from the Ministry is valid. Castellón has worked very well, with full employment as a province, and now it is in a very difficult situation and we must help them, help diversify the economy.
And the startup sector?
In both Valencia and Alicante there is a niche market, even Castellón has movement. The goal is for the startup to end up as a future-oriented company with many workers and not so much that it ends up being sold to a multinational in the short term.
What is the relationship between Valencian companies and Valencian businessmen with the Catalans at the moment?
They are our main client and we have a fabulous relationship. But from a business point of view, just as we have said that we have abandoned our functions in the State institutions, we, Valencians and Catalans, have abandoned our functions to put more pressure on the economic benefit of Catalonia and the Valencian Community. . It is unthinkable that the second city of this country is not properly connected to the third.
Finally, what is the profile of the Valencian businessman?
A lot has changed, it has been rejuvenated, it has become more professional and women have also joined in, and this is positive. I think we have a generation of entrepreneurs capable of tackling big projects. We are seeing it.
