Sánchez announces that the cap on gas has saved 2,000 million and that it will prevent companies from profiting from the crisis

During his speech, Sánchez also announced the approval of an “exception for cogeneration facilities for industries with large gas consumption so that they are temporarily covered by the Iberian mechanism.” “This is an exceptional measure for exceptional times that has been requested by the industry itself and that will benefit sectors that represent 20% of GDP and that are key to many territories”, recalled the Chief Executive. Likewise, the Government is preparing a “comprehensive proposal for the reform of the electricity market” that will be presented “in the coming weeks”.

All this responds to a great objective of the Government: that the crisis is not paid for by the working middle classes and that, with it, large companies do not become rich, as happened during the economic collapse of 2008. “We will go out of our way to prevent the impacts social problems become chronic over time”, assured Sánchez. “We will do everything in our power to prevent a repetition of the neoliberal exit from the previous crisis”, he said, because “in Spain there is a democracy in which the popular will prevails, the vote prevails, which is expressed in the Congress and in the Senate and not in a few restaurants.”

Sánchez, however, has denied that this winter the Executive is going to adopt “dramatic measures” in energy matters. “There are not going to be electricity blackouts or rationing of butane cylinders, or any of those apocalyptic scenes that are often evoked by the right-wing and far-right bloc, along with the media,” he pointed out. “Citizens can rest easy”, he concluded.

In the short term, the Government will propose “to change a little some life habits”. “We will do it to defend our model of life,” said Sánchez. They will be, in any case, “recommendations that will help reduce the energy bill.” “Our priority is going to be to stop waste”, he added, without closing the door to “additional and temporary measures in some industries”, which the Government will try to “make them temporary and compensate them from the force of the State”. “It is not about making great sacrifices but about adapting our model of life. The Spaniards will understand. Spain is the most supportive country in the EU”, he remarked.

Regarding what will happen in the coming months, Sánchez has acknowledged that the Government is working with “different scenarios”. “It is possible that Putin and Russia, which depend on gas to pay the bill for the war, maintain an export volume with cuts to generate fear and uncertainty. It is also possible that Putin will order Gazprom to further reduce this flow or directly turn off the tap completely with the aim of bending Europe, to force us to stop supporting Ukraine”, the President of the Government has pointed out.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen. We cannot figure out that unknown. We cannot read the uncertainty. What we are doing is preparing for the worst and the worst is the total cut off of gas”, he has said. On the part of Spain, it is trying to “ensure imports” that arrive from other parts of the world, as well as “accelerate its own energies, renewable and other sources”, as well as “reducing” consumption “with saving policies and efficiency”. “Putin can break Ukraine, or any other country alone. “But what we are clear about is that he has no chance of breaking a united Europe,” he pointed out.

Amid applause from all the ministers of the Executive and from the benches of PSOE and United We Can, Sánchez has appealed again and again for European solidarity to ensure energy supply to all EU countries. “We must help our European brothers out of solidarity and Europeanism. But also for strategic interest, because its economic future also affects our economic future”, added the Chief Executive.

Regarding inflation, Sánchez has also assured that the future is “plagued with uncertainties”. “Everything will depend on issues that are beyond the control of the government”, he continued, citing, for example, “how long the war will last, or if Putin will decide to cut off the gas”. But, in his opinion, the calculations of the main international organizations “invite moderate optimism” and “that inflation is going to fall”, ending this year at 8% and standing at 3% in 2023. The president, not However, he acknowledged that the scenario is “very volatile and these forecasts have been wrong before and have had to be updated”.

For this reason, from a “position of prudence”, Sánchez has assured that the Government will do “everything in its power and more to bend the inflation curve and protect the working middle classes”. As long as he is president, all the resources of the State will be at the service of the citizens”, he remarked.