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Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has carried out a far-reaching reform of his government as his ruling Socialists try to regain the initiative after a series of setbacks on the political, economic and diplomatic fronts.
In a much broader-than-expected reshuffle of the government, Sanchez promoted Nadia Calviño, the Spanish economy minister, to make her her new number two, as several of the government’s most prominent figures left. the charge.
In a speech to the nation, Sanchez announced the formation of what he described as a new government focused on economic recovery and the use of 140 billion euros in the EU background that Spain hopes it can recover from the ravages of the pandemic, and that the government hopes it will recover its fortunes.
“The government of recovery begins today, to overcome the worst calamity of decades,” he said. He added that the change involved a “generational renewal”, with the average age of ministers ranging from 55 to 50 years and the percentage of women ranging from 54 to 63%.
Among those leaving the coalition are Carmen Calvo, until now Sánchez’s main deputy – a position that will be taken over by Calviño -, as well as Foreign Minister Arancha González, the chief of staff and strategist of Prime Minister Ivan Redondo, and José Luis Abalos, a Socialist Veteran who served as Minister of Transport.
The new Foreign Minister will be José Manuel Albares, a former adviser to Sánchez who now holds the post of ambassador to France and is proud of his diplomatic experience and his closeness to the Prime Minister.
Nadia Calviño’s promotion means she will chair cabinet meetings in Sánchez’s absence © Michael Reynolds / EPA
The promotion of Calvin, a senior European Commission official, means he will chair cabinet meetings in Sanchez’s absence.
“This move underscores its status as an essential part of this government; it is also a signal to the markets and Brussels of its commitment to economic orthodoxy,” said Pablo Simón, a professor of politics at Carlos III University in Madrid. .
But he added that the reshuffle “was practically trying to start the government again from scratch,” just halfway through parliament’s four-year term.
The Socialists have fallen behind center-right popular party at the polls following a devastating defeat in a Madrid regional elections. There is also a diplomatic crisis with Morocco, which in May briefly allowed thousands of migrants to move to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta.
Spain’s GDP fell more as a result of the pandemic than any other large economy, and fell by 10.8% last year.
The country’s economic outlook has been further clouded by the country’s fifth wave of coronaviruses, which last week pushed the infection rate to highest in continental Europe, endangering the tourist season.
In normal times, tourism generates 12% of Spanish GDP and 13% of jobs, with the months of July and August playing an excessive role, but last week Germany and France warned their citizens not to travel to the country.
Among other changes, the reshuffle replaced the heads of the ministries of Education, Justice, Science and Culture and appointed a new government spokeswoman, Isabel Rodríguez.
Simon argued that not only did many ministries change hands, but that the four high-ranking officials who coordinated Sanchez’s policy, which included Calvo, Redondo, and Abalos, had left office.
The fourth of this group, Pablo Iglesias, the former leader of Podemos, a member of the radical coalition of the socialist left, left of politics after finishing fifth in the Madrid elections.
He had previously been replaced as Deputy Prime Minister by Yolanda Díaz, the Communist Minister of Labor in Spain. The five Podemos ministers were not part of Saturday’s reshuffle.
Spanish opposition parties responded to the changes by labeling Sanchez as a problem, not his ministers, and calling elections.
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