Sánchez attacks Guindos after the blow from the ECB to the bank tax: "We appreciate your 'advice', but we are going to move forward"

The Government maintains its commitment to the temporary and extraordinary tax on banking, one of the star measures that Pedro Sánchez announced in the debate on the state of the nation to contain inflation, despite the rejection it has generated in the European Central Bank (BCE), in favor of transferring the new tax to customers.

The President of the Government has been forceful in an unusual gesture in which he has come to point out the Vice President of the ECB, Luis de Guindos, for the opinion with which the body chaired by Christine Lagarde has urged La Moncloa to make a “ exhaustive analysis” on the consequences that the future tax could have, for example, in the granting of credit.

“I have heard Mr. De Guindos say that he just wants to help.

from Mr. De Guindos“, Sánchez reproached at the end of the summit that Spain and Portugal have held in the Portuguese town of Viana do Castelo, of whom he has also assured: “We appreciate your

but we are going to move forward”.

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The ECB urges banks to transfer the new tax to customers

Sánchez has thus remarked that, despite the misgivings of the ECB, the Executive "will continue with its roadmap" to approve the tax, "especially in light of the benefits" that have been known in the last days of banking entities.

"We take note, we will study the report", said Sánchez, who considers that "it is justified that they lend a hand during these difficult times that the Spanish are going through", he has sentenced.

The president and leader of the PSOE is confident that the tax "will not be transferred to the clients" of the entities, just the opposite of what the ECB proposes.

This institution questions that the banking sector cannot charge the cost of the extraordinary tax to customers and "expects" that entities "reflect all relevant costs in the prices of the loans."

Namely,

The ECB's opinion is not binding, although its warnings reinforce the position of the financial sector, which is considering resorting to the tax if the Government maintains it in the current terms.

The first vice president of the Executive, Nadia Calviño, gave no room for doubt and categorically assured in London, where she attended a meeting with international investors, that the new banking tax will go ahead: "Of course, the banks have room and they need to transfer this tax to the clients”.

"The bill incorporates mechanisms to guarantee that this is the case," added Calviño, who defended that both the National Markets and Competition Commission and the Bank of Spain would monitor the new rule that is being processed in Congress that does not the transfer of the future tax to the citizens takes place.

The Minister of Economy downplayed the importance of the reverse due to the ECB's opinion —"it has not been a great surprise, it puts on the table the questions that arise when this type of tax is going to be implemented in Spain or any other country"— and insisted on the need for banks to contribute to rising prices with part of their profits.

"We must not lose sight of the fact that the large Spanish financial institutions are announcing enormous benefits these days, which explain the justice and appropriateness of having this temporary and extraordinary tax that guarantees a fair distribution of the impact of the war," he stressed. Calvin.

The six listed banks —Santander, BBVA, CaixaBank, Sabadell, Bankinter and Unicaja— earned 5,863 million, 31% more than until September compared to the same period of the previous year (4,475 million).

That increase in profits by 1,400 million would represent approximately the amount that the bank should disburse.

In the case of Portugal, the bank makes two special contributions to the State Budget: one in force since 2011, during the times of the country's intervention by the

, and another since 2020, launched to help during the pandemic.

The Portuguese Government plans to collect 210 million euros in 2023 for these extraordinary taxes on entities.

The leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who this Friday has started a tour of Uruguay, Argentina, Chile and Ecuador, has not yet ruled on the setback of the ECB to the Executive, but Isabel Díaz Ayuso has not let the opportunity pass.

“The president of the European Central Bank harshly criticizes another interventionist measure by the Sánchez government, the bank tax, because it goes against the stability of the financial system and is going to have repercussions, like everything every time there is an intervention, on customers and in the citizens”, the Madrid regional president has attacked.

“The ECB, through the Bank of Spain, already has 34% of the Spanish debt in circulation and is buying a good part of the sovereign debt issues.

It does not seem to us a good strategy to underestimate those who allow us to finance our large public deficit”,

António Costa and Pedro Sánchez, at the summit between Portugal and Spain, in Viana do Castelo this Friday. Álvaro Ballesteros (Pool)

Advances in energy and rivers

The good harmony between Sánchez and Costa, which dates back to 2018, when the Iberian Peninsula became the great benchmark for social democracy at a time when most EU members had conservative governments, has become clear once more so in a summit marked by the commitment to strengthening the energy connections between both countries and between the Iberian Peninsula and the rest of the European energy market.

The authorization to limit the price of gas to generate electricity, the so-called

It has been one of the great flags of both executives.

“In the European sphere I like to talk about an Iberian solution, honestly we provided a solution for an energy island and at the same time a kind of inspiration for the rest of the countries in the face of a market that is absolutely dislocated.

We reiterate our commitment to an integrated and renewed energy market, we are doing the best of

in Europe to reach an agreement”, Sánchez claimed.

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, leans on the opportunity to extend it to other EU countries.

“The achievement of this objective is essential for the security of European supply and for the fulfillment of the climate objectives of the EU, by increasing European access to green electricity and hydrogen produced by the two countries”, reads the declaration of the European Union. XXXIII Spanish-Portuguese Summit.

The agreement with France includes a maritime pipeline between Barcelona and Marseille to transport hydrogen and other renewable gases, as well as, potentially, natural gas on a transitory and limited basis, in addition to reinforcing Spanish-French electricity connections and completing the transport infrastructure between Celorico da Beira (Portugal) and Zamora.

There will not be a reform of the Albufeira agreement, which regulates water management in the five basins shared by Spain and Portugal, but there will be changes in supervision and drought indicators.

Both countries are going to study international experiences such as the one that exists in the Danube to carry out a more shared management and they are also going to "harmonize" the parameters of drought and scarcity on both sides of the Raya.

After the protests of Spanish farmers against the transfer of flows to Portugal and Portuguese environmentalists who criticize the "non-compliance" of Spain, the management of water in the five common rivers has become one of the most important bilateral issues of the treaties this Friday.

There was no progress, on the contrary, in railway matters.

Madrid and Lisbon will continue without a direct train, and the connection between Porto and Vigo will continue on diesel trains despite the electrification of the line.

In the medium and long term, Prime Minister António Costa highlighted the investment between Lisbon and Badajoz, already underway, as the most important in Portugal in the last hundred years and which will allow high-speed freight and passenger transport, as well as the high-speed between Lisbon and Porto, which they want to take to Vigo.

In the final declaration of the summit, the study of the connection between Aveiro and Salamanca was included and, for the first time, the study of the line that would link the Algarve with Andalusia.

At this summit dedicated to innovation, Spain and Portugal agreed to create an Iberian research center for energy storage, which will be located in Cáceres and will have a similar nature to the Iberian Center for Nanotechnology, which Costa and Sánchez visited in the morning in Braga.

In addition, they announced the holding of annual specialized science summits and signed agreements for the development of a satellite constellation and a joint microelectronics strategy.

Among the specific agreements that will benefit the citizens of both sides of the Raya is the 112 Cross-Border, a pilot project that will be developed between the north of Portugal and Galicia to coordinate emergency health action.

This will guarantee the mobilization of medical care closest to the emergency, regardless of whether it occurs in one country or another.

Ana Abrunhosa, Portuguese Minister of Territorial Cohesion, explained in Viana do Castelo that the goal is to extend the device to the entire Raya within a year.

Sánchez supports Grande-Marlaska for his management in the Melilla tragedy

Pedro Sánchez has been blunt in his support for the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, questioned about the management of the jump to the Melilla fence in which at least 23 immigrants died.

“He has my full support and logically my recognition.

Marlaska is a great Minister of the Interior and he performs his duties in strict compliance with the law and human rights”, stated the President of the Government.

“Obviously, he is going to appear in Congress and he will become aware of Spain's handling of this tragedy.

We will do it with total transparency, there is nothing to hide.

We are participating in all the investigations," Sánchez added while the minister followed his words attentively in the front row after the summit was held. "Throughout his judicial and political career, he has effectively developed,

always complying with the law.

Interior ministers usually have very difficult and complex jobs," reiterated Sánchez, who did not play down the seriousness of the events: "The images and what happened continue to shock us and, first of all, show our solidarity with the victims."

“When we talk about these types of tragedies, we have to remember that many of these tragedies start many miles away from that border, with the lack of opportunities and freedoms in the countries of origin,” he added.

Grande-Marlaska, as soon as the appearance was over, got up to thank the president for his support.

"The images and what happened continue to shock us and first of all show our solidarity with the victims."

“When we talk about these types of tragedies, we have to remember that many of these tragedies start many miles away from that border, with the lack of opportunities and freedoms in the countries of origin,” he added.

Grande-Marlaska, as soon as the appearance was over, got up to thank the president for his support.

"The images and what happened continue to shock us and first of all show our solidarity with the victims."

“When we talk about these types of tragedies, we have to remember that many of these tragedies start many miles away from that border, with the lack of opportunities and freedoms in the countries of origin,” he added.

Grande-Marlaska, as soon as the appearance was over, got up to thank the president for his support.