The President of the Andalusian Government, Juan Manuel Moreno, has chosen the Doñana National Park as the venue to end the year with the traditional Christmas speech. During 2023, the natural space has become the main point of conflict between the Junta de Andalucía and the central government over the irrigation expansion law – which was also rejected by the European Commission, UNESCO, 25 scientific societies and 1,109 experts from around the world. , but the agreement reached between the two governments at the end of the year has allowed the popular leader to regain his more moderate and dialogue-friendly profile. The “Spirit of Doñana,” to which Moreno has appealed in recent weeks, is an example of what his people call the “Andalusian Way,” and it is what he specifically referred to this afternoon in his final speech of the year. “The way of seeking common ground rather than division. “I want Andalusia to be an example to follow, far from noise, scandal and insult,” is how he defined it.
Moreno has viewed this Doñana pact as an example of the importance of reaching agreements in the political sphere. “You citizens deserve that we politicians strive to understand each other and what we did in Doñana is a good example,” he said, before offering it as a guideline for his relationship with the executive of Pedro Sánchez. Here I extend my hand to the Spanish government so that it faces at least one more challenge during 2024”, referring to the “demolition of Algarrobico”. “This building has become a symbol of wild urbanism on the Mediterranean coast and it is time to throw this mass of concrete to the ground and return this common space to citizens and nature itself,” described the Andalusian president.
On other occasions, Moreno has called on the Minister of Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, to implement the agreement signed in 2011 between both governments to demolish the hotel built in the Cabo de Gata-Níjar Natural Park, with the central government assuming the costs of the demolition and the Andalusians assumed the costs of restoring the area. According to the Supreme Court of Andalusia, this demolition is now subject to the decision of the Carboneras City Council to consider the cancellation of the building permit granted in 2003.
Moreno's defense of the positions of the Huelva County farmers who illegally took water in Doñana called into question the junta's green revolution that it had announced at the beginning of its first term, so much so that the popular leader himself recognized the settlement Regulating irrigation had exhausted him politically. With the signing of the new plan for the natural park, which provides for aid of up to 100,000 euros per hectare for strawberry farmers, Moreno and his government team were able to regain the “Andalusian path” that their people defend: a moderate path They portray the government as de-ideologized – “I want the best for Andalusia, beyond political acronyms and beyond any interest,” he noted in his speech this afternoon – but that does not stop him from supporting the hardline policies practiced by Andalusia's National leader Alberto Nüñez. -Feijóo in Madrid and raise the flag of discontent on matters such as regional financing or the devolution of powers.
The CEO alluded to this comparative grievance at the end of his speech: “I will defend Andalusia wherever it is necessary and before whomever it is necessary.” The voice of Andalusia will sound loud and where it needs to sound, in order to achieve a “To prevent Spain from gaining privileges,” he explained. In recent months, Moreno has emphasized this defense of equality between territories following the agreements with independence and nationalist formations that led to the investiture of Sánchez, but five years ago he already made the same argument, albeit with similar wording, in his First speech developed This type was offered from Cumbres de Enmedio, which at that time was the municipality with the least population in the municipality. “From Andalusia we will demand that the future be shaped as we did during the transition, with the spirit of moderation and consensus that made democracy possible.” “We will not tolerate any discrimination against Andalusia,” said he 2019.
Moreno also used Doñana to warn of the drastic measures that will have to be taken in the municipality if the drought does not subside and the increasingly rare rains do not return. After recalling his government's investments in infrastructure, he was clear: “If there is no rain in the spring, there will be no choice but to apply restrictions.”
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“Life is generally good in Andalusia”
The CEO has stated that Andalusia is “a country where people generally live well” and defended that it has “good public services”, although “they can be improved”. Here he has focused on the public health problems that led to the resignations of the Health Ministry's Nos. 2 and 3 this week, but with less self-criticism than on other occasions. “There are people waiting to be seen by a doctor or specialist. “I know,” he said, referring to the more than a million Andalusians who are on the waiting list – a historical fact – to then ensure that “public health treats thousands of cases every day that cannot wait.”
Public education is another point on which trade unions and the opposition are criticizing the leadership of the Andalusian president. Stressing that he now has “more resources, investments and teachers than ever before,” Moreno stressed that the board’s initiative to ban cell phone use in schools during school hours “has been emulated by various administrations, including the Spanish government.” “Andalusia leads debates and initiatives in Spain, including in social policy, and I like that,” he added.
As in all his Christmas speeches, the CEO also recalled the female victims of sexist violence, where Andalusia this year holds the sad record of being the municipality where the most women have died from murder by their partners. or ex-partners, a total of 17, the worst figure since 2011. “A scourge against which the entire Andalusian society must rebel,” he emphasized, referring to the recent approval of benefits for orphans of sexist violence, a measure that puts Andalusia on a par with another dozen communities having already received this type of assistance.
The Andalusian leader did not forget to highlight tax cuts, one of the axes of the economic policy of the autonomous governments of the PP, and also wanted to focus on another important international event that has brought the Community to the fore: the celebration of the Latin Grammy Gala for the first time outside the United States. “I want people to talk well and seriously about Andalusia,” Moreno said. Andalusia is becoming a magnet for talent, technology and culture that is admired inside and outside Spain,” he assured.
This is the second year Moreno has chosen New Year's Eve to deliver his traditional Christmas address, until 2023 it was always delivered on the 30th. On this occasion, the broadcast was brought forward to the afternoon, within the news program of the public regional channel Canal Sur. As on the other occasions since his appointment as CEO, the popular leader has chosen a scenario that symbolizes his management or the axes of the policies that he wants to implement in the coming year. After Cumbres de Enmedio, Moreno delivered his speech in the operating room of the military hospital – which his government has regained after decades of neglect -; The 2021 took place in a hospitality sector in Granada to support one of the sectors that had suffered the most from the pandemic, and last year it was carried out by an oil cooperative in Jaén, one of the most important economic sectors in the region affected by Ukraine War and drought.