Félix Bolaños (born in Madrid 45 years ago) is the key man of the new Government. Although he is not vice president, he occupies all the functions of Carmen Calvo and chairs the commission of undersecretaries, where it is decided what and how to enter the Council of Ministers. The new Minister of the Presidency has already settled in the La Moncloa office used by Calvo and formerly Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría. The first thing he has done is to clear it from the thousands of pages that the vice president accumulated on her table. Bolaños, as Secretary General of the Presidency, already had a good part of the machinery in the shadows. Now he comes to the fore with the absolute confidence of Pedro Sánchez, who has displaced the all-powerful Iván Redondo and left La Moncloa in the hands of Bolaños and Óscar López, his new Chief of Staff.Both are leaders of the PSOE apparatus of the president's generation with a lot of experience and very far from the Redondo style.
Question.
What does the Government intend to do now that the Constitutional Court has overturned its legal response to the pandemic?
Answer.
The Constitutional Court has not overthrown the legal response.
The measures were effective.
The laws were sufficient.
In fact, they served to fight the pandemic in the hardest moments.
What the Constitutional Court has done is to debate the legal umbrella.
P.
But the sentence says that the formula they used is not valid.
R.
The sentence opens a constitutional debate on what the umbrella should be.
What we did was adapt to the majority request of the experts, and of the whole world, who asked for the state of alarm.
That saved lives.
More than 450,000.
The measures taken by the Government were comparable to those of the rest of the European countries.
The Constitutional debate on the umbrella is not important, but the measures taken.
Q.
Do not you feel unauthorized by the Constitutional?
R.
The measures are not questioned, the important thing was to save lives.
And we did it with those decrees.
And fast.
At that time we saw what the organic law of the state of alarm says, which says that it is designed for health crises.
We saw the spirit of the constituents, who say that the state of alarm was thinking for health crises.
There were Constitutional proceedings, judgments of the Supreme Court, opinions of the State's legal profession, of the Council of State, which said that it was the ideal constitutional umbrella.
It is a doctrinal debate, but it does not affect the measures we take.
The Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, during the interview on Saturday.INMA FLORES / EL PAIS
Q.
Would you do the same again with another pandemic?
R.
Hopefully this generation does not suffer any more pandemics.
But what we would do if it happens is to study the legislation, the Constitutional ruling and take the most effective measures to save lives.
Q.
What will the Government do after the sentence?
Will you propose to change the Constitution or the laws?
R
.
It is not necessary to touch neither the Constitution nor the laws after the sentence.
Both the Constitution and the laws are sufficient and have been effective in saving lives.
Q.
If they saved lives and the Constitutional Court says it was badly done.
Are they irresponsible?
R.
I do not want to go into the reasons.
There have been very even positions.
What we did from the Government was to act quickly in the worst pandemic in 100 years.
P.
Politically, that the Constitutional has given the reason to Vox, what consequences does it have?
R.
Vox voted in favor of the state of alarm and later challenged it.
If with the state of alarm we had accusations of constitutional dictatorship, what would they have said with a state of exception, which gives exorbitant powers to the Government?
Powers that were neither necessary nor suitable.
It seemed to us that the state of alarm was the most proportionate, the most effective, the most guaranteeing position.
We wanted the maximum protection of lives with the minimum impact on rights.
At that moment every day counted.
The Constitutional law validates our measures, it is a doctrinal debate.
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Q.
Is it true that Calvo raised the state of emergency and you rejected it?
R.
We were all clear that the state of alarm was the ideal tool.
It was a majority request not only from political groups, but also from experts.
It was unanimous.
At the point of the state of exception there was no debate.
We all agreed.
P.
Why did not touch the laws to face the pandemic?
R.
We have promoted legislative reform to avoid disparate resolutions.
We have ensured that resolutions are adopted quickly and that it is the Supreme Court that unifies the doctrine.
Q.
But why did they promise to change up to four laws and then not do it?
A.
We concluded that it was not necessary.
In any case, the Constitutional ruling has nothing to do with that.
What we have done is ensure that doctrine is quickly unified.
P.
Is there a problem with justice in Spain?
Is it highly politicized?
R.
For justice it is essential that the opposition have greater political and institutional maturity and renew the constitutional bodies, including the General Council of the Judiciary.
There is no choice.
This will be a first step to guarantee the prestige of the Judicial Power.
P.
Is there any contact with the PP?
R.
There is not but I am going to establish it with all the spokespersons of the groups.
I will tell the PP that it is essential to renew.
Q.
How much can you hold?
R.
We are already late.
The Constitution does not establish an exception because it hurts us.
When the PSOE is in opposition the organs are renewed when it plays.
I will transfer it to the PP spokesperson.
The Government reaches out to strengthen institutions.
And I would like the PP to join the recovery.
I am a man of pacts.
I would like the PP to be more useful for our country.
P.
Should Sánchez call Casado more?
R.
I would like the opposition to have a project beyond demanding the resignation of the president and early elections every day.
We need stability to get our life back.
P.
Why do they speak so little?
R.
The attitude of the PP is not very constructive.
P.
In 2022 the Constitutional Court if it is not renewed, it will have a serious problem.
Is your credibility at risk?
R.
This ratifies us in the call to the PP to renew the constitutional bodies.
This only undermines the prestige of the Constitutional and all the organs.
The Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, in front of the Semillas building in La Moncloa.INMA FLORES / EL PAIS
Q.
Eight million people are now under a curfew.
Did they rush to raise the state of alarm?
A.
The state of alarm is something very exceptional.
It is being shown that without it there are legal tools to deal with a health crisis.
We have one of the highest vaccination rates in the world.
We have an exemplary public health system.
It is true that there is a very high incidence, but neither the fatality rate nor the admission to the ICU are far from similar to what there was.
Q.
Have we relaxed too much this summer?
R.
I think people want to get their life back.
It is legitimate.
But it is necessary to call to the prudence.
Q.
What does it mean to change half of the government in the middle of the legislature?
Did they have a lot of wear and tear?
R.
The previous Government has been the one of the emergency.
Now we open a new stage, the Government of recovery.
Spain wants to get its life back.
Now we are going to try with European funds and our policies to truly transform the country's productive structure.
Q.
Has the pandemic worn down the Government more than you thought?
A.
No one could have predicted that we were going to have the toughest pandemic of the century.
The government focused exclusively on this.
And you have to convey an eternal gratitude.
All the members of the Government who have left deserve our gratitude.
Now what we are looking for is to end the legislature with a Spain that has recovered its standard of living.
P.
Why does Sánchez look to the PSOE for this new Government?
R.
The PSOE is the fundamental tool to transform society.
The PSOE is adapting, that is why it is 142 years old and continues to be the youngest party.
Now Spain asks us to put all our effort into the recovery with the wickers of feminism, environmentalism, digitization.
And therefore that the PSOE leads this stage is a guarantee.
P.
Is the PSOE finishing sewing with this new Government?
A.
I think it regrouped when the primary process ended.
Sánchez turned the page.
Now we need all the human capital of the PSOE.
P.
The polls after the pandemic give the PP as the first party.
Will this new government turn these polls around?
A.
Without a doubt.
I don't give too much importance to surveys, but in this new stage we are going to focus management on improving people's lives.
That is why we will make the science law, the pension reform with dialogue, the company creation law, the trans law, the professional training law.
And at the end of 2023 the Spanish will assess whether the Government deserves to be re-elected.
Q.
What will the Government do to connect with its electorate and prevent the right from adding?
R.
We will be the Government of the recovery and it will be fair.
We are a progressive, social democratic government.
All exit policies from the crisis will be to leave no one behind.
We will seek a just way out of the crisis, which is not like others.
Q.
Will there be a rise in the minimum wage in 2021?
R.
It is a decision that will be adopted in due course observing the economic indicators.
But the minimum wage is 950 euros.
We have made the biggest climb in history, something unimaginable a few years ago.
Q.
Will there be a housing law?
R.
In the coalition we share the purpose of ensuring that everyone has access to decent housing.
P.
Will they change the labor reform of the PP in 2021?
R.
Everything will be done with social dialogue.
That is the way to approach the labor reform or pensions.
P.
Did the motion of Murcia, in which you participated, helped the PP by accelerating the regrouping of the right?
R. It
was an essential motion.
The situation of institutional deterioration in Murcia was unimaginable.
It was good for Murcians.
What strikes me is that there was an obvious transfuguism at no cost to any of the protagonists.
Q.
But did you accelerate the end of Ciudadanos?
R.
As a government we have little care what happens on the right.
We have to improve everyone's life and achieve a just recovery.
Q.
You negotiated Budgets with Citizens in 2020.
Now they have lost that option and only have the majority of the investiture left.
Will there be Budgets?
R.
I would like Citizens to recover the spirit of utility.
We are going to reach out to them.
Q.
What can you offer ERC for new Budgets?
R.
The last ones have already been approved.
And all that was negotiated were budget issues.
The political questions of the dialogue table go the other way.
Q.
What happened to Iván Redondo?
It was everything and now nobody quotes him in the Government.
R.
We must spend all our time improving people's lives.
This question does not seem transcendental to me.
Because of my way of being, I am quite discreet.
These things do not interest me or ask.
The president makes the decisions and they must be respected.
Q.
Is it true that Redondo asked for your position, that of Minister of the Presidency?
R.
I am a discreet person.
P.
With a lot of information.
R.
Unfortunately for journalists I am discreet and this issue does not interest me or ask.
The people are not as important as the project.
The president has decided to have new people and open a new stage.
Iván seems to me to be a great professional, a tireless worker.
I wish you the best personally and professionally.
I only have words of gratitude for him for his work for the Government.
Q.
Is the fiasco of the elections in Madrid at the origin of Redondo's departure or the change of government?
R
.
The result was very bad.
I am convinced that the PSOE is going to rebuild its political project in Madrid.
The result did not have an exclusive cause.
Q.
Are you going to begin the exhumation of the remains of Republicans?
A.
Some families have asked for it.
It is a reparation to the victims that should be done.
Q.
Is the memory law stopped?
It is being highly criticized by the associations and some groups on the left who say they are not going to vote for it.
R.
We will take it this Tuesday to the Council of Ministers.
Q.
Do you wear it as Bald left it?
Are they not going to play it despite the criticism?
R.
It was already approved by the commission of undersecretaries.
But we will take it to the Cortes and there it can be modified via amendments.
We will do everything that can be improved and broadened.
We have already considered many contributions.
It was a great job by Carmen Calvo, by the way.
Q.
What are you going to do with the Valley of the Fallen?
P.
It is going to resignify.
It cannot be a monument that apologizes for a dictatorship.
The dignity of democracy demands that it be re-signified.
Q.
Is it easier to negotiate with Yolanda Díaz than with Pablo Iglesias?
R.
Yolanda Díaz is extraordinarily talkative and capable.
A coalition needs a lot of dialogue.
This is what we did with Iglesias and we continue on the same path.
We talk continuously.
Our goal is to get out of the crisis with social justice.
Q.
There is a bilateral meeting with the Generalitat on August 2.
What self-government improvements can they offer?
R.
The stage of the sovereign process is ending and we are starting a new one, which is the search for solutions.
The granting of pardons and the commitment to the agreed route has opened it up.
Those solutions can only come through dialogue.
It is great news that the bilateral commission, which derives from the Statute, meets on August 2.
After the summer we will sit at the dialogue table to seek solutions, but always within the Constitution and the law.
Q.
In Territorial Policy, they go from the PSC leader, Miquel Iceta, to a La Mancha leader like Isabel Rodríguez, close to García Page, who has been very critical of the pardons.
What message are they sending to the independence movement?
A.
Government policy in Catalonia has not changed.
We offer you to be a European, prosperous and plural Catalonia.
The president is clear that the pardons were the beginning of an agreed path to seek reunification.
That is the government policy that was carried out in exchange with Minister Iceta and now with Minister Rodríguez.
Q.
Is it possible that Catalonia will one day vote in a referendum on something that is not a reform of the Statute?
Could there be a vote in all of Spain?
R.
The fundamental thing is to reach agreements, as was the last Statute, which had the support of more than 70% of the population.
That is the way, reach agreements, and then vote.
Everything that the Government does will be respectful of the Constitution.
P.
Is the output a new Statute?
R.
The way out is to dialogue.
It is too early to anticipate results.
P
.
Are they going to appeal the decree of the Generalitat that endorses the fines to the pro-independence leaders?
R.
It is still being studied.
There is a deadline to present the appeal and also to negotiate.
P.
But Salvador Illa has already said that it is not illegal.
He will have consulted the Government.
R. He has consulted his legal services.
We are waiting for the report from the State Bar.