The counselor of Rural Environment and Agricultural Policy, Marcelino Marcos Líndez, reproached this Tuesday in the Asturian Parliament to Vox that "it lives in its own virtual reality" far from the real situation of the primary sector in Asturias. He defended the actions of the regional government in favor of the rural environment and emphasized that, by the end of the legislature, the Principality will have mobilized more than 20 million euros in exceptional aid for the primary sector.
"Fortunately, I am convinced that the majority of ranchers, farmers, know that what they convey, like what just happened in this tribune, does not correspond with reality," said Marcos Líndez after listening to the interpellation of the Vox deputy, Carolina López, who described the situation of the Asturian countryside as "unsustainable."
The person in charge of Rural Environment emphasized that never before had such a high volume of extraordinary support directed to the sector been articulated, and recalled, among others, the aid for the drought of 2023, those aimed at the acquisition of forage, those directed to faba producers after two failed campaigns, and those linked to the epizootic hemorrhagic disease.
Likewise, he announced that the Principality will launch new lines of support for the drought and for the increase in fertilizer costs, for which Asturias will apply the ceiling authorized by the European Commission, which will allow doubling the initially planned allocation.
Marcos Líndez also pointed out that, upon concluding the last financial year of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), on October 15, Asturias reached a historic maximum of 93.5 million euros in aid channeled to the primary sector.
In response to accusations of delays in some calls, the counselor denied that they are "blocked" and defended that the established administrative times are being respected.
Regarding the aid to compensate for the increase in fertilizer costs, he detailed that Asturias is initially entitled to more than 943,000 euros of the more than 50 million distributed by the central government among the autonomous communities.
The Principality, he specified, will increase that amount to around 1.8 million euros, the maximum possible, and must make the payment of these aids before February 28.
"Asturias supports the rural environment, the government of Asturias supports the rural environment and you cannot come here with a virtual reality," concluded the counselor.
Criticism from Vox on the management of the Principality
The Vox deputy, Carolina López, insisted in her speech that the primary sector "is suffocated, asphyxiated, and abandoned." She stated that the profit and loss account of many livestock farms is "unsustainable" due to the policies being applied and the decisions that, in her opinion, are made with their backs to the field.
López demanded that the counselor not create expectations that he cannot later fulfill and reminded him that "increasing the budget is not supporting the sector, it is executing it, which is what he does not do."
"There is a budget in Asturias for the rural area of 273 million euros. Do you know how much your department has executed as of August 31? It is the last date you have given us, because you are that transparent. It is the last official data, 24%, counting personnel expenses. If we talk about investments and current transfers, it is much less," criticized the Vox parliamentarian, questioning the execution capacity of the department.