Pedro Sánchez announces the new composition of the Government, which starts the year "with new ideas, the best teams and optimistic about the present and the future of Spain"

Moncloa Palace, Madrid

The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, during the institutional statement in which he announced that Óscar López will be the new Minister for Digital Transformation and Public Function, replacing José Luis Escrivá (Pool Moncloa/Borja Puig de la Bellacasa)

Pedro Sánchez has announced the appointment of Óscar López as the new Minister for Digital Transformation and Public Function, replacing José Luis Escrivá, who has been appointed Governor of the Bank of Spain. He also announced that the new director of the Cabinet Office of the Presidency of the Government will be Diego Rubio.

Óscar López, a key minister who will drive digitalisation and modernisation of the civil service

The President highlighted Óscar López, the new Minister for Digital Transformation and Public Function, for his "political and working capacity", and his "commitment to the country". López has worked in different public institutions, both national and European, and also in the Government of Spain, "where he has played a key role in public management as director of the Cabinet of the Presidency of the Government".

Sánchez also described him as "a great promoter of the technological and audiovisual revolution, first from Parliament and then from Moncloa Palace".

"He is perfectly familiar with public administration at all levels and has extensive experience working with the private sector, so I am convinced that he will be a key and exemplary minister who will know how to serve all Spaniards with efficiency, honesty and dedication, promoting the digitalisation of our country and modernising its civil service," he stressed.

With Escrivá, the Bank of Spain gains a great governor and the Spanish economy is strengthened and made internationally prestigious

Regarding the new governor of the Bank of Spain, José Luis Escrivá, the appointment of whom the Minister for Economy, Carlos Cuerpo, has already informed the Lower House of Parliament, Sánchez stated that he is "one of the best economists that our country has and one of its greatest experts in monetary policy", who "throughout his long career has passed through all the areas that should make up the career of a prestigious economist".

He recalled that he has been a member and director of two of the main research services in our country, those of the Bank of Spain and BBVA. He played a key role in the development of the euro as head of the Monetary Policy Division of the European Central Bank and was head of the Americas at the Bank for International Settlements in Basel before moving into the national public sector, first as the first chairman of the Independent Fiscal Responsibility Authority under a Popular Party government and then as an independent minister in the Progressive Coalition government.

The president stressed that, as a minister, Escrivá "led key reforms for our country: the reform of pensions and the reconstruction of the Toledo Pact, the creation of the minimum living income, the reform of the civil service and the promotion of digitalisation, and the management of a migration policy based on the labour and social integration of migrant workers".

"I believe that very few economists have the knowledge, the experience and the level of statesmanship that José Luis Escrivá has. That is why I am convinced that he will make an excellent Governor of the Bank of Spain. "With José Luis Escrivá, the Bank of Spain gains a great governor, and the Spanish economy comes out strengthened and prestigious at European and international level", he added.

Diego Rubio will bring his integrity, technical rigour and cross-cutting vision as Director of the Cabinet Office of the Presidency of the Government

Last, Pedro Sánchez informed that the new director of the Cabinet of the Presidency of the Government will be Diego Rubio. From Extremadura, he graduated in History from the Autonomous University of Barcelona with the best academic record in the country, obtaining the National Prize for Academic Excellence. He did his postgraduate studies at the Ecole Supérieure de France and a PhD at Oxford University. He is a Member of the School of Politics, Economics and Global Affairs of the Instituto de Empresa and advisor to international organisations such as the United Nations and the European Commission.

In the last five years, Rubio has worked in the Cabinet of the Presidency of the Government, first as Director of Foresight and Strategy, and then as Secretary General for Public Policy and European Affairs, collaborating with hundreds of academic academics, companies and public bodies.

"He will now contribute his integrity, his technical rigour and his cross-cutting vision as director of the Cabinet Office of the Presidency of the Government to continue preparing Spain for the future," the president said.

New ideas, the best teams and the same enthusiasm as always

Sánchez has assured that the Government of Spain is starting this political year "with its batteries charged", and that "Spain is experiencing one of its best moments in recent decades. Where once there was corruption there is transparency, where there was a territorial crisis, today there is cohesion and unity. And where before there was economic crisis, unemployment, cuts and precariousness, today there is growth, employment, labour and wage dignity", he stressed.

"We are starting the political year with new ideas, with the best teams and with the same enthusiasm as always to carry out the task that the Spanish people deserve and need. The Government is optimistic about the present and the future of Spain", he concluded.

Non official translation