The Minister of Industry and Tourism, Jordi Hereu, former president of Hispasat and former mayor of Barcelona from 2006 to 2011, returns to politics and takes advantage of this to exploit the importance of the Catalan Socialists. Hereu assures that “the PSC – the brand of the PSOE in Catalonia – has weight in the Council of Ministers and also in many areas of responsible politics, as well as in strategic companies, as well as in industry and tourism, which represent 30 percent of the GDP.”
Hereu claims in an interview that “confidence is being created so that the companies that left Catalonia in 2017 can return,” although none of them have shown any enthusiasm in doing so. “The social representatives, CEOE and the unions,” he adds, “are an example of great agreements with great rationality in dealing with the problems,” although the Spanish employers’ association has issued a strong statement against the amnesty and the installation of Sánchez pacts with Puigdemont, who is still a fugitive from the Spanish judge.
He emphasizes the idea of reunification: “We must be builders of coexistence between people who differ from a territorial, social and generational point of view, because it is the epicenter and the cause of the well-being of citizens, and that is good for that Country.”
Amnesty has evolved from an illegal and unconstitutional situation to an act of coexistence and dialogue
Regarding the amnesty that Pedro Sánchez denied in the 23J parliamentary election campaign and considered illegal, Hereu believes that those who criticize will also be beneficiaries of this new phase and that “the disagreements come with a different spirit than the one that was experienced , to be overcome”6 or seven years ago.”
He believes that “the key is in the management of diversity, and this applies to Europe, Spain and Catalonia.” A lot of time will have to be spent on dialogue, on building a legislature with stability and approved budgets, on dialogue with junts and ERC, BNG and PNV – he does not name the Bildu-Pro-ETA members, although they were crucial at the inauguration of Sánchez and “they will remain so throughout the legislative period – in reaching agreements can.”
Hereu, former president of Hispasat, a subsidiary of the public Red Eléctrica
The head of industry and tourism, appointed president of Hispasat by its main shareholder Red Eléctricas on orders from Sánchez to Beatriz Corredor, says of the PP opposition: “It has no long-term strength, it must recognize the democratic reality.”, and that it faces a government that is the result of a dialogue that has a parliamentary majority”, although the dialogue took the form of a transfer of seven votes to the minority groups and required each of them to be able to conclude à la carte pacts collect the necessary votes for Sánchez’s inauguration.
“Europe must recover part of the production process.” In Spain there is land and energy. Reindustrialization generates activity and attracts population to depopulated Spain, to which we add an economic recovery plan,” he comments.
Hereu assures that the industry has grown by 336 percent in active policies since 2018 to 7,000 million through the Perte, with the automobile being the most important.
“There is an industrial pact for Barcelona, Catalonia and Spain,” he says.
Regarding the crisis of Celsa metallurgy, he noted that they will not allow it to be dismantled because of its importance for Catalonia and other places in the country.
It says that tourism accounts for 13 percent of GDP, with 66 million tourists per year, and that it is a major driver of employment, with spending of 84,000 million by September.