Pedro Sánchez points to 21st Conference of Regional Presidents as channel for driving inclusive post-COVID-19 recovery

San Millán de la Cogolla (La Rioja), La Rioja

The meeting prior to the working session was also attended by His Majesty, King Felipe VI, and by the Speaker of the Upper House, Pilar Llop. As well as the regional presidents, this conference was attended, on behalf of the government, by the President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, the four Vice-Presidents of the Government, Carmen Calvo, Pablo Iglesias, Nadia Calviño and Teresa Ribera, and the Ministers for the Treasury, María Jesús Montero, for Territorial Policy and Public Function, Carolina Darias, and for Health, Salvador Illa.

Following the official photo of the meeting, the President of the Government remarked that the Conference of Regional Presidents is a "good support base to drive the economic recovery of the country", and stressed "the need, key in a decentralised State such as Spain, to coordinate efforts by all public authorities to recover and transform the economy based on sound pillars of growth", among which he highlighted the ecological and digital transition of the economy - two aspects that are particularly important in the management of the European Recovery Fund.

The President of the Government also called for unity to exit the health, economic and social emergency and insisted that "this recovery must be inclusive; no-one can be left behind, and I don't only refer to people, but also to regions".

Governance and management of Fund

Pool Moncloa/Borja Puig de la BellacasaAt the plenary session of the Conference, Pedro Sánchez announced how the Recovery Fund will be managed, stating that an Inter-ministerial Committee will be set up chaired by the President of the Government.

He also specified that a Recovery Fund Monitoring Unit will be set up at the Office of the Presidency of the Government at Moncloa Palace, and a high-level group will structure public-private collaboration.

The Minister for the Treasury will head up the sector conference with the regional governments and cities, to establish multi-tier collaboration and the Recovery Fund will be introduced into the usual debates of the forthcoming Conferences of Regional Presidents.

Local authorities will also take part in this governance process.

La Rioja, host of 21st Conference

The Conference of Regional Presidents was held for the first time outside of its usual headquarters in the Upper House of Parliament, and offers continuity to the 14 conferences held by video-conference during the state of emergency.

The President of the Government thanked the Regional Government of La Rioja for its hospitality by offering Yuso Monastery in San Millán de la Cogolla to host the conference, and highlighted the cultural, historical and linguistic symbolism of this location - a World Heritage Site - and called for the need to drive inclusive recovery through cohesion and equal opportunities to combat territorial inequalities.

At the end of the conference, the Minister for Territorial Policy, Carolina Darias, referred to the conference as a "meeting of Spain with Spain" and to the need to tackle this genuine country challenge with unity, cooperation and loyalty.

The Conference of Regional Presidents took place throughout Friday and ended with appearances by different regional presidents before the media at the end of the working session.

Non official translation