The Government allows Covid tests to be worth up to 271% more than in the EU and vetoes their sale in Carrefour or Mercadona

It happened at the end of December for example in the Carrefour hypermarket in Drancy, on the outskirts of Paris.

It is not a municipality of millionaires and as soon as the Minister of Health of socialist origin

finally broke the monopoly of pharmacies and it came into force for supermarkets to temporarily sell antigen tests, there was an avalanche.

"In the pharmacy it is difficult to find and they are worth 5.20 euros, while here they cost 1.95", said the customers at the exit.

Mercadona also sells them in Lisbon and apologizes to its Spanish customers on social media: "In Portugal the legislation allows their sale in supermarkets while in Spain, their sale is authorized exclusively in Pharmacies."

The average price in Spain is 213% higher than those of the European Union countries that allow its sale in supermarkets or even 271% higher than those of Germany, according to updated data from the National Association of Large Distribution Companies ( Anged) -the one that brings together Carrefour, El Corte Inglés or Alcampo in Spain- to which this newspaper has had access. According to Anged, antigen tests cost in Spain on average between 5 and 8 euros; in Germany, 1.75; in France, 1.95; in the Netherlands, 2.50 and in neighboring Portugal, 2.10. The average in these countries is 2,075 euros, compared to 6.5 in Spain.

Faced with the French decision, the executive vice president of Anged,

, wrote to the Minister of Health,

, on the 28th offering the Carrefour or El Corte Inglés network, among others: «The reason is to transfer our most sincere offer of collaboration so that, as different European countries such as Germany, Portugal and, recently, France have done, the sale of Covid tests and tests can be authorized in our commercial establishments ". Darias's response came days later at a press conference rejecting the offer and maintaining that these tests should only be sold in pharmacies, because it is "the right channel." Does Darias consider that the Portuguese socialist government is erring in allowing the aforementioned group that presides

sell test in Portugal or the German coalition to maintain that Lidl or Aldi can do it in Germany? The veto of the

government not only makes the distribution of these crucial products difficult to stop the virus, but also makes them more expensive for citizens, given the difference in prices with countries without monopoly. This should certainly be a topic of interest to the Minister of Consumption, Alberto Garzón.

«We do not understand why the Portuguese, French, Germans, Dutch, etc. can buy tests in commercial establishments and the Spanish cannot.

It is only about helping and offering solutions and providing a service to society in a situation as complicated as the one we are experiencing

, "he adds.

In Anged they deny that they are looking for business, but to sell tests without margin and to take advantage of their capacity to buy large from Chinese manufacturers and their extensive distribution network.

There are some 55,000 hypermarkets and supermarkets in Spain in Spain, compared to 22,000 pharmacies.

In this association they point out that it would be enough with a decree that temporarily modifies September 2000, which regulates the sale of medical devices for diagnosis through pharmacies. Darias's French counterpart has given that permission until the end of January, when he hopes to have passed the peak of the current wave. "

for health products", the French minister justifies himself to appease the protests of his pharmacists who allege that the tests should be sold with control and advice.

Another battle of Anged or Asedas -which represents Mercadona- is the bureaucracy with the hiring of employees who tested positive.

"One in seven workers does not join because, being already well, they cannot get the doctor to receive them," they criticize.

They request automatic registrations for recovered after seven days without the current face-to-face consultation system.

Meanwhile, in December Spain registered the most uncontrolled inflation of the large euro countries.

It is not just energy.

The excessive bureaucracy and its monopolies would test positive on what slows the recovery.

The anniversary

"PRE-RETIREMENT" IN POST

30 months after his controversial appointment to the head of the Post Office, the presidency of

is not being a bed of roses. The former chief of staff of

when he was in the opposition is showing personality and has faced the UGT and CCOO to the point that both of them organize strikes and accuse him of using the position for "personal interests", despite some losses 500 million in the last three years. Serrano has reached an agreement with CSIF that includes, according to a statement from this union, "a program of early retirement that must be strengthened in the coming years to rejuvenate a workforce with an average of close to 50 years." Early retirement in a public company when

defend delaying retirement to sustain the system?

It will be necessary to see if they are really early retirement and at what cost.

Character

FROM LESS TO MORE"?

The formula used

, to try to justify its implausible economic forecasts for 2021 was that it is in any case "a recovery from less to more."

However, the Independent Authority for Fiscal Responsibility (AIReF) points to a slowdown in the fourth quarter of 2021 with a growth of 2.2%, below the 2.6% that the INE certifies in the third.

AIReF does not lower it any more due to the good employment data for December announced by the Government, because if it were limited to indicators such as the PMI activity of services it would have to be more pessimistic, because it falls to the lowest level since April.

Consumer confidence indicators are also declining.

AIReF points out that the final GDP growth in 2021 was 5.5% and it is certain that it did not reach the 6.5% officially foreseen by Calviño.

2022 does not start well either.

To follow

NUCLEAR SHOCK

French President

applauded the European Commission's reconsideration of nuclear energy and declared to

that it must be "at the heart of European strategy."

“It has the extreme advantage of producing power without coal and without intermittence.

Wherever there is coal, it must be eliminated, but not everything can be done with gas, because it will depend on Russia ", justifies Macron, who points out that his country has the" historical "luck of facing the current crisis with nuclear energy as a source. 75% of the supply.

Macron thus confronts the German Chancellor,

, who has the Greens in his coalition.

He also points to the battle against the Frenchman,

.

He told the PSOE Federal Committee that he will oppose the EU including nuclear energy among those admissible in the energy transition in clash with Macron.

And the coalition in Italy?

Divided.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

• Spain

• Germany

• Portugal

• Coronavirus

• Alberto Garzon

• Carolina Darias

• France

• The English Court

• Mercadona

• Pedro Sanchez

• Lidl

• Juan Roig

• Paris

• European Union

• Covid 19

• Jose Luis Escrivá

• INE

• GDP

• European Comission

• Russia

• Olaf Scholz

• Italy

• CCOO

• HBPR

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