The Council of Ministers approves an addendum to the recovery plan to mobilise all the European funds allocated to Spain

Moncloa Palace, Madrid

The First Vice-President of the Government of Spain and Minister for the Economy and Digital Transformation, Nadia Calviño, has explained that the Council of Ministers has agreed to send to the European Commission an addendum to the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, which will allow "the totality of the transfers and loans allocated to Spain to be mobilised".

The addendum contemplates €10.3 billion in additional transfers from the NextGenerationEU funds and the REpowerEU programme, which will be used to reinforce the 12 strategic projects already under way, and up to €84 billion in loans.

Nadia Calviño has reiterated that the €84 billion of loans will provide Spain with a safety net to be able to maintain "the strong public and private investment pace" in the future. The loans will be channelled through financial instruments, among which the vice-president mentioned the Autonomous Community Resilience Fund, endowed with €20 billion to finance sustainable investment projects in the autonomous communities, and which will be managed in partnership with the European Investment Bank.

The Official Credit Institute will also channel credits through two lines totalling €22.5 billion for business projects, especially green investments, and which will include a specific allocation of €1 billion for the tourism sector.

The vice-president highlighted the creation of a fund to promote social housing and affordable rental housing, endowed with €4 billion, with the aim of reconstituting the public housing stock. Support for the business fabric is complemented by the Next-Tech Fund, which has been increased by €4 billion. In addition, €1.5 billion will be earmarked to boost audiovisual productions in Spain.

For their part, the PERTE for industrial decarbonisation and the PERTE Chip will receive €2.72 billion and almost €12 billion, respectively, aimed at developing the design and manufacture of semiconductors, according to the vice-president. As a new development, Calviño announced that a cyber-resistance and security instrument will be created, with €2.2 billion to strengthen security, defence, aeronautics and space capabilities in an environment of greater geopolitical complexity and growing cyber-threats and cyber-attacks. A €2.25 billion fund will also be set up to encourage green investment by households and businesses.

Reform programme

The First Vice-President of the Government of Spain and Minister for the Economy and Digital Transformation, Nadia Calviño, during the press conference after the Council of Ministers | Pool Moncloa / Borja Puig de la Bellacasa

The addendum is completed with a programme of reforms aligned with the specific EU recommendations for Spain, which give continuity to those implemented since 2020 to increase productivity, ensure sustained and sustainable growth and social and territorial cohesion, and strengthen the strategic autonomy of Spain and the EU.

Nadia Calviño stressed that the successful implementation of the recovery plan, which is a national project, cannot be understood without the involvement of all political, economic and social agents and all public administrations. The text approved today by the Council of Ministers therefore includes a detailed analysis of their contributions and proposals. The addendum also extends the scope of some successful programmes, such as the Digital Kit, and redirects resources to the most in-demand programmes, such as the creation of vocational training places, the deployment of solar roofs and housing rehabilitation.

The objective, stressed the first vice-president, is to "make 100% use of European funds within the framework and the maximum deadlines set by EU rules".

Caliviño added that the deployment of the recovery plan is having a positive impact on the economy, and the addendum approved today will reinforce this impact and complete the structural transformation that is taking place. "We estimate that the implementation of the plan as a whole will increase Spain's Gross Domestic Product by up to three percentage points on average until 2031", and this boost will also translate into an increase in productivity, growth of the economy to 1.6%, a reduction in structural unemployment and an improvement in fiscal sustainability.

Public commitments to extend human rights

The Minister for the Presidency, Parliamentary Relations and Democratic Memory, Félix Bolaños, during the press conference after the Council of Ministers | Pool Moncloa / Borja Puig de la Bellacasa

The executive has approved the II National Plan for Human Rights 2023-2027, which includes the "public commitments of an entire country to protect and continue promoting and extending the rights that, in short, are the basis of our coexistence in peace and freedom", according to the Minister for the Presidency, Parliamentary Relations and Democratic Memory, Félix Bolaños.

The minister stressed that the plan, which has been in progress for more than a year, is the result of the work of 17 ministries and of a process of dialogue and deliberation with civil society, parliamentary groups, experts, universities, human rights organisations and institutions such as the Ombudsman, as well as the autonomous communities. It also takes into account the contributions made by citizens through a public consultation. The initiative, added Bolaños, also means fulfilling Spain's commitments to the UN.

The approval of this second plan - the first ended in 2012 - coincides with the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and precedes the imminent start of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union on 1 July. "We are responding to a broad consensus to work on an ongoing basis on rights, and on the democratic values that inspire us as a society to improve them and adapt them to the challenges of each moment," said the minister.

Responding to new challenges

The plan is structured around four main axes, sixteen general objectives and 421 measures. The axes encompass international obligations and cooperation; the promotion of human rights, including those related to environmental protection, technological developments and artificial intelligence, and the ageing of the population; and gender equality and non-discrimination of specific groups in society.

Among the measures cited by the minister for the presidency were an increase in Official Development Aid, the digital integration of the elderly, guaranteeing energy consumption for vulnerable households, health care in the light of climate change, and actions against hate in all areas, including social networks, and against discrimination based on sexual orientation, disability, age or origin.

"This plan responds to all the challenges that are taking place in today's societies: climate change, algorithms, artificial intelligence... but it also tries to prevent and combat hate speech, which is increasingly common in our society, in politics, in life, in football stadiums," said Bolaños.

Investments in public transport and research

The Government Spokesperson and Minister for Territorial Policy, Isabel Rodríguez, during her speech at the press conference after the Council of Ministers | Pool Moncloa / Borja Puig de la Bellacasa

The Council of Ministers has authorised €363 million to subsidise public transport in metropolitan and outermost areas.

The Minister for Territorial Policy and Government Spokesperson, Isabel Rodríguez, indicated that these are areas where this service records a significant number of journeys and contributes substantially to economic activity. Specifically, €47.5 million is being granted to the autonomous community of the Canary Islands, €127 million to the Madrid Regional Transport Consortium, €149 million to the Barcelona Metropolitan Transport Authority, and €40 million to the Valencia Metropolitan Transport Authority. Subsidies are conditional on these administrations having a Sustainable Mobility Plan.

The government has also earmarked €22 million to finance Spanish participation in international research and development projects. Isabel Rodríguez stated that it will be the Centre for Technological Development and Innovation (CDTI) that will organise Spain's participation in these projects, selected in various international competitive calls for proposals.

Also in relation to science, the executive has guaranteed the indefinite validity of the agreement on the coastal observation and forecasting system of the Balearic Islands, co-financed 50% by the Ministry of Science and Innovation and the regional government.

The institutional inauguration of the Royal Collections Gallery, 25 July

The Minister for the Presidency, Parliamentary Relations and Democratic Memory has announced that the inauguration of the Galería de las Colecciones Reales, in Madrid, scheduled for 28 June, will be delayed until Tuesday 25 July due to the general elections scheduled for Sunday 23 July. "It is a date that we have agreed with the Royal Household because it is an institutional inauguration that will be presided over by His Majesty the King," he said.

Félix Bolaños pointed out that the Galería de las Colecciones Reales can nonetheless be visited from 28 June, as planned, and that from 29 June to 2 July there will be open days for all citizens who wish to get to know this new museum.

The project, which began 25 years ago, brings together more than 650 paintings, sculpture, tapestries and engravings by artists such as Goya, Titian, Velázquez and Bosch. "This is great news for Spain, which will have the opportunity to showcase its great cultural, historical and artistic heritage to the whole world with this new building," he remarked.

Non official translation