Mariano Rajoy asserts that "if we persevere with the policies we set in motion," things will get better for Spanish families

Lower House of Parliament, Madrid

In response to a question from the Socialist party spokesperson Pedro Sánchez, the President of the Government recalled that at the end of 2011 the economy "was on the verge of bankruptcy and Spain was at the point of being bailed out". Among other things, he added, 3.4 million Spanish people had lost their jobs, the number of homes with all their members unemployed was growing, prices were rising, families were losing their purchasing power and households were cutting their expenses. "The OECD and Eurostat figures showed that inequality and poverty were increasing steadily in Spain," he pointed out.

"Luckily," he added, "and as a result of the policies carried out over these years, things are beginning to be corrected." He offered some figures that point to this economic improvement: a fall in the number of households with all their members unemployed (185,000 fewer, according to the latest EPA labour force survey), a reduction in the rate of temporary employment, the fact that 400,000 people found a job in 2014, falling prices and the reduction in private debt. Household consumption and spending increased for the first time in 2014, he concluded.

In addition, he pointed out that although "we have lived through the toughest economic crisis in decades," "this year, in 2015, things will be better." That is why, "if we persevere with the policies we have set in motion, things will undoubtedly improve more in the future for the Spanish economy and for the families of all our compatriots".

The priority has been to guarantee the sustainability of public pensions

Pool MoncloaAitor Esteban, spokesperson for the PNV [Basque Nationalist Party], asked the President of the Government about the progress of the new Supplementary Social Benefit. In response, Mariano Rajoy admitted that it was time to "improve the development of these instruments for social protection," which had been impossible until now.

To explain this, he said that when they arrived at Moncloa Palace they found "the Social Security accounts deeply in the red, with a partial and incomplete pension reform and with public pensions frozen." There was therefore a need to set priorities.

The most important of these priorities with respect to pensions was to guarantee the sustainability of the public system, as set out by Article 41 of the Spanish Constitution. That is why a major reform was undertaken of the public system and pensions were increased in some budget years. "Public pensions have never been frozen," he stressed.

You cannot compare Colombia with the Basque Country

The Member of Parliament for the Mixed Group-Amaiur, Jon Iñarritu García, began his question by asking about the peace process in Colombia, although he ended by referring to the situation in the Basque Country. After expressing his full support for the government of the South American country, Mariano Rajoy explained that "everything the Colombian Government is doing lies clearly within the constitutional and legal system of that country."

Pool MoncloaThe President of the Government did not admit any comparison with respect to the similarity between the peace process in Colombia and the situation in the Basque Country: "There were not two sides in conflict here. Here there was only one side that killed people and what that side has to do now to put a final end to this situation is disband. Then the law will do what it has to. There is nothing to negotiate here; terrorism has to be delegitimised."