Amid a bureaucratic avalanche of wind farms and environmental and neighborhood groups stopping several of them in court, the Xunta de Galicia has just announced that it will intensify the procedural simplification for large industrial projects, a process that Alberto Núñez Feijóo decided already began in his Phase as regional president. His successor, Alfonso Rueda, explained the measure this Monday during his speech in the debate on the state of autonomy, the last before the first regional elections that the PP faces without Feijóo as the headliner. Just a few months before the election, Rueda made other promises, from tax cuts to a general bonus of 5,000 euros per year so that families can finance home care for those in need of care.
Rueda justified the plan to accelerate the delivery of industrial projects in “this time of extreme competitiveness” with a view to neighboring Portugal and the investment there is attracting. The Xunta has decided to designate as strategic all initiatives that “create 25 or more jobs, have funding of two million euros or more and have a significant territorial and socio-economic impact”. These companies are guaranteed a one-year processing time from submission of all documents to approval. And if this period is exceeded “for reasons attributable to the administration”, the Galician government will compensate the promoter with 1% of the total amount of the project, up to a limit of 500,000 euros. Investments of more than 800,000 euros will have a single window at Xunta, processing times will be halved and “the support of the Galician Government will be guaranteed in the event that municipal approvals are delayed without reason.” Xunta can grant the factory license, Rueda explained.
His speech was, among other things, about tax cuts. The Galician president will reduce taxes on the purchase of used cars by five points (from 8% to 3% in general) “to promote sustainable mobility” and reduce the property transfer tax by one point (from 9% to 8%) is not new. He assured that the Xunta, which is heavily criticized by the opposition for the low stock of protected housing in the municipality, would support 1,900 public rental apartments and “another 3,000 from private developers”. He also announced an increase in the staff of the Galician Health Service (Sergas) with “stable contracts”, without giving figures, and an expansion of the presence of clinical psychologists in health centers across Galicia, for which he did not give dates or deadlines. .
In one of the oldest areas in Spain and the municipality with the fewest publicly financed housing places, the Galician government will promote a bonus of 5,000 euros per year so that people with any level of care need can be cared for in their homes and helped without income limit that Sources of the Galician executive are considered unique in the state. In cases where home care is not possible, those who already receive a subsidy for attending a private facility receive an annual supplement of 1,200 euros, which is also independent of income or level of need for care. The Xunta will also create a card with discounts in stores for people over 65 years old.
The negotiations regarding the inauguration of the socialist Pedro Sánchez with the independence parties have reached the Galician parliament. “The constitutional framework cannot be a negotiating tool for short-term electoral interests,” criticized Rueda. “A president cannot obtain an extension of two months or a few years at the price of sacrificing the most fundamental principle of the equality of all citizens.” The popular leader assured that the agreements that could be reached would have an economic impact on Galicia, because, in his opinion, they would attack the “sustainability and justice of the welfare state”. “Would a resident of the Lugo Mountains understand that they will not have better cell service because they have to foot the bill for an investiture?” he asked.
Since there is still the possibility that Feijóo will get another chance to become president of Spain, Rueda has announced that he will never “submit to the interests of the central executive with which he comes into contact, regardless of their political stripe.” He lists Galicia’s demands before the central administration that have remained outstanding since the times of the popular Mariano Rajoy in La Moncloa. He led the relocation of the municipality’s main toll highway, the AP-9, which was contested by the PP and PSOE governments; the improvement of the rail connection to Portugal, the investments in the north-western freight corridor or the delay of the Avril trains, which will make it possible to respect the promised times of the AVE to Madrid. Also other claims with less history, such as the reduction in VAT for meat and fish, the autonomous management of the coast or the co-management of the minimum income. And against the background of his party’s pacts with the denial of Vox, Rueda demanded that the central government set up special courts for gender violence in the five Galician cities where they do not exist: “We will not rest until we succeed, to eradicate the most painful machismo. “That is gender-based violence.”
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The BNG’s national spokesperson, Ana Pontón, considers the “reproduction of announcements, promises and propaganda” in Rueda’s speech as an “insult to the intelligence services” and a “lack of respect” towards Galicians. According to him, he tried to “convince” the public that “he will do everything” that the PP “did not do” during his 14 years in power. The PSdeG-PSOE parliamentary spokesman believes that Rueda has “painted a scenario typical of an ivory tower”.
Just before the debate began, Socialist congressman José Ramón Gómez Besteiro confirmed in the halls of the chamber that he would run again in the Socialist primaries to run for the Xunta presidency. Besteiro was the headliner in 2016 but was forced to resign months before the election as charges mounted over alleged corruption. Now that he has been exonerated by everyone, the former president of the Provincial Council of Lugo returns to the political front. He probably has a rival. Former Secretary General Gonzalo Caballero has announced that he is also considering running in these primaries, for which there is no date yet.