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In the press room of the Council of Ministers there is no coverage.

It is difficult to receive calls and you only have internet if you are connected to the Wi-Fi network.

Isabel Rodríguez, new Minister of Territorial Policy and Government spokesperson, consulted this Tuesday, at its premiere, her mobile.

No message came through, no last minute.

His concern was, above all, if there were news regarding Cuba.

It was opening day, to take a position, to discover.

Nobody told him that he needed to connect to Wi-Fi to be able to receive messages from his colleagues in the cabinet in case something important happened or a clarification or announcement was required.

Gajes of the first day.

The new Government of Pedro Sánchez lived its official launch on Tuesday.

First cabinet meeting in which the Prime Minister wanted to demonstrate the change of pace he intends.

Sánchez wants to leave the stage of the socio-sanitary crisis behind.

Change the Government so that citizens identify it with recovery, employment, investment.

And he wasted no time on his roadmap.

The Council of Ministers approved public investments amounting to 7,116 million euros on account of European funds, for matters such as electric vehicles, education or home renovation.

The arrival of the funds

It is a more than significant investment: the Strategic Project for the Recovery and Economic Transformation (PERTE) of the Electric and Connected Vehicle represents a public investment of 4,300 million between 2021 and 2023, to which are added 1,185 million euros for educational policy , of which 1,097 million, from the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism (MRR), will be invested in digitization, educational reinforcement programs and Accompaniment and Guidance Units for the next school year. Finally, 1,631 million for the rehabilitation of homes and public buildings between the communities, Ceuta and Melilla for this 2021.

An important injection of public money especially, because it was this Tuesday, finally, when the ministers of Economy and Finance of the EU (Ecofin) gave the green light to the Recovery Plan for Spain, along with that of 11 other countries.

In the absence of a series of administrative steps and paperwork, which could take a few weeks, Moncloa is confident that the first 9,000 million euros will reach the public coffers at the end of July or the beginning of August.

The forecast is that by the end of the year another 10,000 million will arrive.

This Tuesday, in one go, 7,000 million of those European funds were already used.

The Government, in order not to wait for this final approval of the funds to take place, provisioned in the General State Budgets for 2021 the amount of 27,000 million as an advance of European money, in order to be able to approve different items related to the Recovery Plan which was sent to Brussels.

Finally, this year, Spain will receive 8,000 million less from Europe than expected.

"To change people's lives"

"These agreements are going to improve and change people's lives a lot", is the slogan that the Executive wants to transfer now.

That the European funds serve to remove the crisis and even the "political conflict" with Catalonia from the center of the debate and focus the message that the improvements will reach the citizen.

That they will be palpable.

This was emphasized by Rodríguez, in his debut as spokesperson, when explaining the 1,631 million for housing rehabilitation: "They are projects to improve our neighborhoods. To change the life and image of small and medium-sized cities."

The purpose of the Executive in this second part of the legislature is to try to reconnect with society after the detachment generated by the social health crisis of the coronavirus pandemic and the management of it by the Council of Ministers, where society has been He reproached at times the breaches of the Government's pact or the delay in social measures, such as the Trans Law - already approved - or the Housing Law - still stuck.

"Today we begin to write a success story", with this euphoric message, Reyes Maroto, Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, summarized the change in pace.

"We are in another moment, where the arrival of European funds makes us look to the future with optimism", added Rodríguez.

It delves into a resetting of the Government's action as a continuing thread of its remodeling.

It is the message that Sánchez himself has transmitted to his new ministers: they are in the Council of Ministers to take the reins of the economic reactivation that is anticipated and exhibit a new image, more rejuvenated and connected to the street - hence the incorporation of three socialist mayors.

New 'communicator'

This new stage not only concerns government action, but also communication.

Sánchez also wants to renew this plot in order to provide the Secretary of State for Communication with more political weight.

Thus, in the next few days the departure of

Miguel Ángel Oliver

, who has held this role since Sánchez arrived at La Moncloa in 2018, will be made official.

His march gained strength especially after the changes in the Presidency, mainly with the goodbye of Iván Redondo, Sánchez's chief of staff, on whom he depended.

The name chosen to relieve Oliver is, today, that of

Francesc Vallès

, former PSC deputy in Congress.

This already coincided with the current spokesperson of the Executive, Isabel Rodríguez, in the socialist parliamentary group, where he came to integrate the leadership of the same as deputy general secretary.

His appointment would imply Sánchez's claim to give this post a more political profile.

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Know more

  • Minister council

  • Pedro Sanchez

  • Spain

  • Reyes Maroto

  • Miquel Iceta

  • Maria Jesus Montero

PoliticsPP and Vox demand the urgent appearance of all new ministers

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Government Pedro Sánchez also changes the Government's Communication

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