Pedro Sánchez: "Spain is experiencing one of its best moments in recent decades"

New York (United States)

The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, began his agenda at the UN today with the opening of the 79th session of the General Assembly. He also held various bilateral meetings with other leaders, and closed the 'Global Economy Forum', organised by the Spain-US Chamber of Commerce and the newspaper El País.

Entitled 'Spain, Latin America and the US in the Global Economy Forum', it brought together business representatives from Spain, Latin America and the US. It also featured, among other interventions, an inaugural speech by the Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares.

Pedro Sánchez stressed that Spain is heading in the right direction and that the Government's economic policy is working. "It is an economic policy that has a clear roadmap to protect middle- and working-class incomes and the purchasing power of families," he stressed.

In this respect, he pointed out that Spain grew by 2.7% year-on-year in 2023, six times more than the Eurozone average. He also highlighted the fact that Spain is the country that has best contained the inflationary crisis among the large European economies, which is largely explained by the energy component.

The president referred to three factors that have contributed to this milestone: the impact of the "Iberian solution", the massive deployment of renewable energies through Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan funds, and the ambition "to become a major power in the production of green hydrogen". In this regard, Sánchez stressed that "these data consolidate an unprecedented scenario in our economic history" because, for the first time, "we overcame an inflationary episode by generating competitiveness and not losing it".

In this line, the president took the opportunity to share three examples that show the strength of the Spanish economy, including the performance of our labour market, noting that in 2023, one out of every three jobs created in the Eurozone was created in Spain, and that the country has experienced a 35% increase in high value-added sectors since the pandemic. He also highlighted the diversification of our foreign sector and Spain's performance in the field of new and greenfield investment. Sánchez underlined that all these aspects are helping to strengthen social cohesion.

Beyond his achievements, the president reviewed the pending challenges, including the need to strengthen the Welfare State, which involves a progressive tax model that distributes wealth more fairly and a financing system that guarantees resources to the administrations responsible for health, education, dependency and social services.

Pedro Sánchez attends the 'Spain, Latin America and the United States in the Global Economy Forum' | Pool Moncloa/Borja Puig de la Bellacasa

He also referred to guaranteeing housing as one of the main challenges of the legislature, emphasising the need to expand the public housing stock and to resolve the tension between tourist activity and the welfare of residents.

Third, Sánchez stressed that "we must continue to be at the forefront of the energy transition", highlighting the approval today in the Council of Ministers of the new Energy and Climate Plan, which will be even more ambitious. "We are aiming for 81% of our electricity to come from renewable sources by 2030," he stated.

Last, he highlighted the challenge of improving European competitiveness in line with the recommendations of the Draghi Report, which Spain shares, placing special emphasis on the need to invest more public resources in research, the development of new technologies and green infrastructures. "This is the path that Spain has followed, doubling public investment in R&D and allocating two out of every five euros of the Recovery Plan to the ecological transition," he underlined. Sánchez defended that "our country paid a very high price under the neoliberal dogma of austerity. We lost precious time".

In this line, he remarked that Europe must increase public investment, not decrease it, and that it must involve the state in the generation of wealth, not push it aside. "We have been applying this public-private partnership policy for six years and we now know that it works, even in a complex international context marked by uncertainty, because the data tell us so," he stressed.

Bilateral meetings

During the morning, Pedro Sánchez held various bilateral meetings with other leaders, both to strengthen Spain's bilateral relations with other countries and to exchange views on matters of common interest.

He held a meeting with the Prime Minister of Morocco, Aziz Akhannouch, with whom he reviewed the magnificent state of bilateral relations, the best in decades. The two leaders also discussed the management of migratory flows and the commitment to orderly and safe migration.

They also discussed the organisation of the 2030 FIFA World Cup, to be hosted by Spain, Portugal and Morocco.

Meeting between the President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, and the Prime Minister of Morocco, Aziz Ajanuch | Pool Moncloa/Borja Puig de la Bellacasa

The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, with the Prime Minister of Morocco, Aziz Ajanuch, during the opening session of the General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly. | Pool Moncloa/Borja Puig de la Bellacasa

The President of the Government also met with the President of the World Bank, Ajay Banga, with whom he discussed collaboration on the Africa Forward plan and contributing to joint development and prosperity in West Africa. The two discussed preparatory work and close cooperation to ensure the success, with concrete and ambitious results, of the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development.

In this regard, Pedro Sánchez held a meeting with the President of Mongolia, Ukhnaagiin Khürelsük, with whom he discussed the enormous potential for the development of bilateral relations between the two countries and the deepening of political, cultural and economic relations.

The president also shared with H.M. King Abdullah of Jordan his concern about the risk of regional escalation. They also shared the view that the Euro-Arab voice in favour of a two-state solution should also be heard at the UN. Both leaders called on all actors to reach a ceasefire that would allow for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages and humanitarian access.

Meeting between the President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, and the President of Jordan, H.M. King Abdullah | Pool Moncloa/Borja Puig de la Bellacasa

Non official translation