The representatives of the business organizations of the Valencian Community, Region of Murcia and Andalusia, CEV, CROEM and CEA, have demanded today in Murcia from the Government for regional financing, the improvement of infrastructure and the water deficit. Participating in the event were José Mª Albarracín, president of the Regional Confederation of Business Organizations of Murcia (CROEM); Salvador Navarro, president of the Business Confederation of the Valencian Community (CEV); and Javier González de Lara, president of the Confederation of Businessmen of Andalusia (CEA), together with José Cano, vice president of CEA and also head of ASEMPAL.
The president of CROEM asked that in this legislature “the reform of regional financing be finally addressed, because the Region of Murcia is one of the worst treated, and a National Water Pact that corrects the imbalances between humid Spain and Spain. dry.” For Albarracín, “the execution, without further delay, of the Mediterranean Corridor, a strategic project for the three territories, and the third lane of the A-7 between Murcia and the Valencian Community, saturated with private vehicles and heavy traffic, is also a priority.” . The president of CROEM also recalled that the region is pending the processing of the new El Gorguel dock in the Port of Cartagena, “another essential project for what it will mean in terms of wealth and employment for the region and for Spain as a whole. ”.
For his part, the president of the Confederation of Businessmen of Andalusia (CEA), Javier González de Lara stated: “Always within the framework of dialogue, from institutional loyalty and with the vocation to reach consensus, Andalusian businessmen join our voice to those of CROEM and CEV to emphasize that we do not want to be more than anyone, but neither less. Let’s move ideologies away from the necessary debate on Autonomous Financing, today unjust; and key issues, such as infrastructure or water management. This “Mediterranean alliance” between CEV, CROEM and CEA emanates from an essential part of civil society: the business fabric, the generator of employment. Our hand extended to the Administrations to overcome the grievances against three strategic regions for the growth of Spain.”
Thus, the leader of Andalusian businessmen emphasized: “Europe begins in Algeciras (Cádiz). Yours and Valencia’s are the two most important merchant ports in our country. Full development of the Mediterranean Corridor is urgently needed, respecting what has been committed. Mobility and logistics are being greatly affected by a discriminatory investment policy. In the same way that an innovative and bold management of drought, as a structural problem rather than a temporary one, requires that it be elevated to a State issue, closely linked to the sustainable development of our economies and the energy transition.”
In the same sense, the president of CEV, Salvador Navarro, assured that two of the causes that are contributing to generating greater inequalities between territories and “that seem to worry the Government so much” are the current regional financing system and the allocation of funds in hydrological planning. In this regard, he stated that both have a solution: the change of model, expired since 20214, and a better redistribution of water, based on a national plan that responds to technical criteria. “In both cases, the main parties need to agree,” he said. In the same sense, he referred to the new solidarity quota that the Government promotes in other areas and that, in Navarro’s opinion, “would be very good for us, but applied to financing and water.”
The territorial presidents, who were accompanied by their general secretaries, also shared the concerns of the business world and the concern they share about the situation of social dialogue.
Comunitat Valenciana, Region of Murcia and Andalusia make up 32% of the total Spanish population and account for 25% of the national GDP. Together, the productive fabric of the three regions is close to one million companies, which export a value of 90 billion euros per year; that is, more than a third of national exports. In total, they employ 6.4 million people.
The presidents of the Valencian, Murcian and Andalusian business organizations stressed that these data “have sufficient strength and are clearly representative” of the incidence of the problems shared by the three territories on the national stage. For this reason, they insisted on the need for an urgent reform of the Autonomous Financing System, which solves the current tensions and perceived discrimination in these three Communities. A reform, they expressed, that enables an equal response to the needs of citizens in all the territories of Spain.
For CEA, CROEM and CEV, the effort and commitment of the regional administrations and the actions of the central government, which has investment powers in strategic infrastructures such as the aforementioned Mediterranean Corridor, are essential and complementary. Severe project delays are preventing intermodal connection with the port system in three regions that exceed 1,700 kilometers of coastline and are home to 11 of the country’s 48 Port Authorities.
Regarding the high water stress that afflicts the three Communities, both CEA, CROEM and CEV share that water management transcends regional frameworks and requires “a response as a country.”
The business meeting was attended by the president of the Autonomous Community, Fernando López Miras, along with the Minister of Economy, Finance and Business, Luis Marín.
