A new social aid package with special mechanisms to curb food prices was announced by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Sunday but it still needs to be approved by Spain’s left-wing ruling coalition before the end of the year.
Speaking at a rally of the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) in Barcelona, Sánchez praised the hard work done so far by his progressive Executive to “bend the curve” of inflation in Spain, thanks, among other instruments, to the so-called “Iberian derogation“, EURACTIV’s partner EFE reported.
Sánchez announced that, before the end of the year, his coalition government (PSOE/S&D-Unidas Podemos/GUE-NGL) will approve a “new aid package” aimed at the “social majority” of the country, which will incorporate “mechanisms to contain the development of food prices”, although he did not provide more details.
Employment Minister Yolanda Díaz (Unidas-Podemos) announced last week that her party is negotiating new measures with the PSOE to tackle rising food and mortgage prices, within the framework of the extension of an anti-crisis decree that expires on 31 December, but without specifying what they would consist of, EFE reported.
“We are going to put all our resources, as we did during the pandemic, at the service of the people,” Sánchez stressed on Sunday. He also explained that he is committed to this idea “not only out of social commitment but also as a matter of economic efficiency.”
In May 2023, Spain will hold municipal elections, considered the first litmus test for Sanchez’s governing coalition with Unidas Podemos.
After that, the parties will have to face the general election set for December next year.
According to a recent poll, Spanish socialists are predicted to win the 2023 elections, but it’s certain that no party will achieve an absolute majority to form a government.
(Fernando Heller | EuroEFE.EURACTIV.es)
Source: euractiv.com
