Speech by President of the Government during his visit to the SEAT Technical Centre on its 40th anniversary

Martorell (Barcelona)

Ladies and gentlemen, a very good morning to you all.

I would like to start by thanking Francisco Javier García Sanz, Executive Vice-President of the Volkswagen Group and Chairman of the Board of Directors of SEAT; Mr Jürgen Stackmann, Chairman of the Executive Board of SEAT; the members of the Executive Board of SEAT here with us today; directors and executives. I thank you all for your invitation and I thank all of you here for coming.

I must say that, as President of the Government of Spain, it is an honour for me to be here. Spain is one of the leading vehicle manufacturers in the world, the second in Europe, and the Volkswagen group and SEAT is an exceptional benchmark in the sector.

The SEAT factory in Martorell was opened over 60 years ago and, ever since, SEAT itself and the Volkswagen group - owner of the brand since 1986 - have experienced growth that is unparalleled almost anywhere in the world; growth that has mirrored that of Spain, which is one of the countries where the per capita income has increased the most in the last 50 years.

Ladies and gentlemen,

You know that the main goal for the Government of Spain's work, indeed for the government of any country, is to improve the level of well-being and wealth of its citizens. The goal of any government in any country, I repeat, is to create jobs, for people to be able to work, for the public services to operate properly, for there to be good infrastructure, for social services to be provided... in other words, everything capable of leading to better lives for its citizens.

That is the goal and attaining it depends on many factors. Perhaps the most important, at least in my opinion, is the human factor: our entrepreneurs and workers. The government can create the conditions to facilitate their work but without initiative, without drive and without the committed efforts of entrepreneurs and workers, it is impossible to achieve that goal of creating jobs and improving a country.

That said, I would like to take this opportunity, and this comes from the heart, to thank the automotive sector in Spain, its directors, its executives and its workers for what they have done and what they continue to do for our country. What they have been doing for some years now - SEAT was set up here in 1960 - and, in particular, what they have been doing during this economic crisis, which was very tough and, fortunately, we are starting to leave behind now.

The automotive sector is essential to the Spanish economy. It has gone through some tough times lately, just as other sectors also have in recent years. But this sector has remained firm and stood strong. It has continued to invest. We can say today that yesterday's problems have been overcome and it has strengthened its position. Vehicle production is increasing in Spain after some bad years; but this began to turn around in 2013 and last year, 2014, saw 2,400,000 vehicles produced in our country. This year, 2015, we are seeing growth of 13.2% on last year.

The influence by the automotive sector on employment is considerable. I will just give you one figure: employment in the automotive sector grew at 3.5% per year in the first six months of this year, while employment throughout the economy as a whole is growing at 3.2%, and employment at an industrial level is growing at 2%. Similarly, the automotive sector is also very important when looking at our foreign trade balance: in 2014 alone, vehicle exports grew by 8.5%.

This gives stability to Spanish factories. We are now exporting to the whole world; exports have increased a great deal to Africa and Asia, and, as I said before, we are the second-largest vehicle manufacturer in the European Union and the ninth in the world. This export growth continued in 2015: 11.1% more than in 2014, when the export of goods and merchandise throughout Spain grew at a good rate, by 4.9%, while vehicle exports grew by 11%.

So, we are talking about a sector of strategic and capital importance for our country, to which the Government of Spain is extremely grateful and will continue to support as much as it can.

Within this sector, which I would like to recognise here, Volkswagen and SEAT are a benchmark, as I said at the start of my speech. 14,000 people work for SEAT, 6,500 of them here; with three production centres: it has the capacity to produce over 500,000 vehicles per year, and it has a Technical Centre that, as we have been reminded of today, is celebrating its 40th anniversary, with a workforce of 900 engineers. That is not enough, according to what the Chairman of the Executive Board just told us, and we were all very happy and attentive to listen to him; and we hope that it remains insufficient in the near future and that they hire more engineers.

However, the most important factor about Volkswagen and SEAT is that there is a firm desire to keep working on future models and on the development of new very low consumption models. Also, and this is what matters to us as Spaniards, there is a desire, which we have seen and heard today, to continue investing in the future.

If someone were to announce every so often that they were going to invest 3.3 billion euros here, in Catalonia, I'm sure you would understand that we would all be very excited. Unfortunately, these announcements do not come often. There are more and more of them but, let's see, 3.3 billion euros... If you want to contribute more, we would be entirely in favour.

I believe this underpins the message that Spain is a key country for the strategy implemented by the Volkswagen group and SEAT, and that the future of the group's installations in our country is guaranteed.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I will finish soon but allow me to briefly reflect on the future of our country.

I have thanked the automotive sector in my speech already, SEAT and Volkswagen in particular, for their commitment to Spain, which was made during the most difficult times of economic crisis - the worst economic crisis that our country has experienced in decades.

Well, I would like to explain something to you and take this opportunity to tell you how I see things in the future. I think the worst of the crisis in Spain is behind us now. Three years ago - incredible, just three years - the only thing discussed here was the threat of a bailout and the threat of bankruptcy; there was talk of recession, of negative economic growth; unemployment was rising every day in our country. That was what we were living through just three years ago, and a short time previously. Today, three years later, things are different: nobody is talking about bailouts or bankruptcy, the recession has turned to positive economic growth and, this year, Spain will be the EU country posting the largest economic growth. If anyone here would have said this back in 2012 in Spain or Europe, they might have been thought to have lost their mind.

Employment is improving today: we were shedding jobs for three long years at a rate of 9% per annum but employment is growing today at 8% per annum.

Even so, there is still much work to be done and many objectives to be reached in Spain; there is indeed still much work to be done. Some of that work has been mentioned here today: the commitment to training, R&D+i, and employment and fiscal regulations. And there are some objectives still to be reached. The most important objective is to continue creating jobs and for people to live better lives, for life to get better for everyone.

I am optimistic about the future of our country and I am also realistic. I believe that Spain, if the right policies are implemented, if it persists and perseveres with the economic policies that have provided results, will enter a significant cycle of economic growth. I see no economic risks in the Spanish economy; perhaps I can see, or others can see, some uncertainty in terms of politics, which is the worst problem that the Spanish economy could be facing right now. I believe that the time has come, more than ever, for common sense to prevail. And I believe in the common sense of the people of Spain. That is why I am optimistic about the future.

Thank you very much.