The electoral pre-campaign is gaining strength coinciding with the première of Spain in the Presidency of the Council of the EU. While the president of the Executive is in Kiev, the leader of the PP and candidate to preside over the presidency of the Government, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has promised this Saturday a law to support the Spanish food system and to invest 40,000 million euros in six years. euros in water infrastructures.
He has closed a party event on agriculture and livestock in Gimenells together with the mayor of the town and head of the Congress list for Lleida, Dante Pérez, and the PP spokesperson in the European Parliament, Dolors Montserrat: he has been praised for his recent absolute majority and her for being “the voice of seny” in Europe. The popular leader has presented 10 proposals on the agri-food sector and 5 on water, alleging that, if they are met, “in Spain there is enough water for everyone.”
He has promised a law to support the Spanish food system as a strategic sector; review the strategic plan of the CAP to improve the viability of farms; measures for the primary sector to alleviate the increase in energy, fuel and raw material costs; strengthen the position of producers and improve transparency between production, industry and distribution.
He also wants to “try” for producers to join cooperatives; strategic plans for the main agri-food sectors; reinforce the viability of agricultural insurance; ensure generational relief with fiscal policies for young people and women; help innovation and digitization, with web pages to sell to the world; and water policies, which he has delegated to 5 proposals.
He has promised a National Water Pact; that this plan entails 40,000 million water investments in 6 years; a strategic national water network between the Government and the autonomous regions, so that this investment is effective; a plan for the modernization of infrastructures of the State, companies and canals, which it has defined as a guarantee of the dammed water; and a plan to optimize water efficiency because the supply network “loses between 20 and 25% of its water every day.”
A “second class” ministry
The sector is “one of the great victims of sanchismo” because his ministry has become a second-rate portfolio, and he has said that for the first time in 25 years the commercial balance of the Spanish agri-food industry has fallen: 20%. He has also defended lowering taxes for companies to set up in rural areas, and has promised to complement it with services in those places.
without centralism
In addition, he has affirmed that Spain needs to function without centralism, but also rejecting impositions from nobody, in allusion he implies the nationalists: “Here we are all equal, and those who want to eat alone want to eat more.”
And he has considered it essential to know how to compete with neighboring countries and also with countries that do not follow all the community regulations that prosper the sector: “When you are not afraid, you win.”
the price of oranges
Feijóo has reiterated that farmers received 12 cents per kilo of oranges despite the criticism they received, after which he already said this week that he was not referring to the retail price: “They laughed at that data. How can you tell that Those gentlemen do not dedicate themselves to agriculture”.
“They have even said that Feijóo does not find out”, for which he has invited his critics to speak with the sector so that they know that this price is true and that a plastic bag is worth more, as he already said.
The requests of the sector
Dante Pérez, who is a farmer and rancher, has previously introduced a debate with the presidents of Asaja Mujer, Blanca Carroto; Spanish Association of Beef Producers (Asoprovac), Ricard Godia; National Federation of Producers and Exporters of Fruits and Vegetables, José María Pozancos; Spanish Association of Distributors, Supermarkets and Supermarkets, Ignacio García Magarzo, and Spanish Association of Dehydrated Alfalfa Manufacturers, Cristina Vendrell.
Carroto has highlighted that the viability of agricultural and livestock farms requires taking water to where there is none, and “you have to turn around” the image of the countryside reflecting it as a business opportunity, although at the same time you have to support your young people facilitating and encouraging them access to land.
Godia has accused the Government of a lack of dialogue with the Government with its sector, of being against meat production and of demagogy with macro-farms (which it does not consider a reflection of what farms are in Spain) and has asked the next president “dialogue with the sector to regulate well”. Pozancos has asked to simplify the regulatory framework of the fruit and vegetable sector, because he sees “disproportionality between objectives and measures.”
García Magarzo has regretted that distributors have gone “from heroes to villains” from the pandemic to the current crisis, due to the rise in prices, but has assured that it is justified, although the rise is not being understood due, in large part, to of “political noise”. Vendrell has demanded that the importance of his sector in Spain be “taken into account” because it is the world leader in the production of dehydrated alfalfa), he added that fodder is not receiving the water it needs to survive (because the industry situation is difficult and also has to face very high costs) and has also asked to simplify the bureaucracy when exporting.
