Pedro Sánchez has announced economic measures and new laws, among which four stand out. The provisional excise duties it has announced for energy companies and banks are the most prestigious. For the time being, the tax will apply to the profits of large companies in these sectors in 2022 and 2023, with which the Spanish Government expects revenues of EUR 7 billion, EUR 4 billion in the energy sector and EUR 3 billion in finance.

The other two most important economic measures are the transportation and scholarships of students. It had already announced a 30% to 60% reduction in public transport, and it has now determined that local bonds will be free from 1 September until 31 December.

As regards the new scholarships to be awarded to students, the most important thing is that students who have so far been receiving the scholarship will have a monthly increase of EUR 100 between September and December. One million students will therefore receive EUR 400 more until the end of the year.

Memory and Secrets Act

Sánchez has announced new laws, but the historical memory and secrets of the State are the most important. The President of the PSOE Government, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, will replace the law of the historical memory announced last week and that of his mandate, which will be approved this Thursday in the Spanish Congress, unless unforeseen.

A new law on official secrets has also been announced. This is very important, and especially from the Basque point of view, because it has supported the repression of the State in the Basque conflict. No one expects miracles in this field, but perhaps he can open a door for the future. It is called the Classified Information Act and Sánchez announces that by the end of July the preliminary draft will be ready. The amendment of this law is particularly important, since the present one is from the time of the dictator Franco, namely 1968.

What taste has the debate left?

If they are not forthcoming, the general elections in Spain will be held before the end of 2023, and the debate in the General Policy Congress has clearly marked the beginning of the race. In fact, the popular started the campaign when Alberto Nuñez Feijóo assumed the presidency of the PP, and the polls also consider them a clear winner, especially the PSOE, and the Left in general, after the great stir obtained in the Andalusian elections.

In addition, the PP has once again shaken the ETA ghost that once proved so profitable to him, until the PSOE was abandoned in a very uncomfortable position on the 25th anniversary of the assassination of Miguel Angel Blanco. Furthermore, and for eleven reasons, the controversies of the UN Podemos and the PSOE are constant in the Spanish Government, either because of the new PSOE policy on the Sahara or because of the doubling of the budgets announced by Sánchez in the defence spending of the coming years.

According to the left-wing chroniclers of Madrid in general, as in the Public or in El Mayo, in this debate in Congress Sánchez has revived his mythical image of resistance and managed to zocar Feijóo, especially with the special taxes announced for the benefit of all the citizens. It has also reaffirmed with its announcements the support of the forces that the government has so far maintained. It has turned the left and asked for it, and it has also confronted the sector that within the PSOE wants to put the next campaign at the centre.

However, many readings have been made, and it is much more critical than those mentioned by journalist Guillem Martínez Ctxto.es, in which he considers Sánchez’s participation as a lost option. Among other things, he criticizes the fact that President Sánchez makes no mention of the need to adapt to the economy of war. By contrast, it explains how Russia has done so in full and how the states of the European Union are not doing so.