The counselor of Industry of Cantabria, Eduardo Arasti, has highlighted the "intense" and "direct" promotional work that the regional government of the PP is carrying out to attract projects to La Pasiega, with a special focus on the Chinese market. "We are not waiting for investors to knock on the door. We have gone out to look for them," he emphasized in the Plenary of the Parliament, where he also serves as the head of Employment, Innovation, and Commerce, in response to an interpellation from the PRC about how many and which companies would be willing to establish themselves in this logistics center.
During the debate, the regionalist spokesperson, Pedro Hernando, took the opportunity to ask for explanations about information suggesting that the Altamira data center had been excluded from the initial power allocation included in the draft of the new Electrical Planning of the Ministry for Ecological Transition. Arasti rejected that interpretation and stated that "it is being regulated," since "the royal decree containing the conditions has not yet been approved." "It's like someone asking: Has an exam been suspended? And the answer is: I did not show up because it has not been called," he exemplified, insisting, with the same parallelism, that "the Altamira exam has not been called."
In relation to attracting investments for La Pasiega, the counselor detailed that the Executive has held meetings with "more than 50 companies" from ten "strategic" sectors and has launched a specific international promotion campaign, in which special attention has been paid to China. He mentioned, among other actions, a meeting with the ambassador of the Asian country in Spain held in July, the visit in September of a delegation from the province of Henan, and the presence of the Cantabrian government at the Hispano-Chinese automotive summit in Madrid. In addition, he announced that this Thursday a new meeting is scheduled with a Chinese delegation and eleven entities, including companies, investment firms, and consultancies.
Despite this agenda, Arasti has acknowledged that it cannot be "overlooked" that "many" of the potential investors demand "immediacy conditions that in many cases we cannot meet," since the lands of La Pasiega will not be operational until 2030, "two years earlier" than what the previous PRC-PSOE Executive contemplated. "But there are Chinese companies, and non-Chinese ones, that need to start producing sooner. In many cases, they also require very high extension conditions, or port depths above 13 meters at the port of Santander," he added.
Nonetheless, he emphasized that the 'popular' Government has "put La Pasiega in the main national and international investment circuits" and has developed "a constant promotion effort to turn it into one of the major business projects in northern Spain." Regarding the intermodal railway terminal, he reproached the PRC that with the previous Executive "there was nothing," while now it is "guaranteed," and he stressed that this infrastructure, along with the electrical power and the other planned services, makes La Pasiega a "very attractive initiative for many companies," whose names he preferred not to reveal "for prudence."
The situation of La Pasiega has also been the subject of a subsequent interpellation by the Vox deputy, Natividad Pérez, who asked the counselor about the timelines and budget commitments for the arrival of commercial and industrial operators to the logistics area.
Arasti responded that the Executive has fulfilled its duty, which involves "substantially improving the infrastructures." He also indicated that the necessary power has already been incorporated into the energy planning.
He confirmed that there are companies interested in settling in La Pasiega, although without providing identities. In Pérez's opinion, the "confidentiality" maintained by the counselor is "the perfect excuse to hide that companies are not interested in the site" or that the Government "does not have companies."
Labor situation in Santa Clotilde and the SCS
At the end of the afternoon plenary session, the Health Counselor, César Pascual, intervened to respond to his predecessor in office and current PSOE deputy, Raúl Pesquera, regarding the working conditions of the healthcare staff at the Santa Clotilde Hospital after the entry into force of the agreement with the Cantabrian Health Service. Pascual made it clear that this agreement does not turn those professionals into public employees nor does it integrate them into the SCS staff, nor does it grant them the status of statutory personnel.
In the same way, he denied that the agreement alters their employment contracts or recognizes automatic rights of incorporation into the public system. He also specified that it does not modify the criteria for hiring lists or competitions, nor the procedures for filling positions in the SCS.
Therefore, the counselor accused Pesquera of trying to "sow doubts" among healthcare workers and emphasized that the fact that Santa Clotilde is considered a "linked" or "alternative" hospital does not respond to a "legal" issue, but rather is "a way of speaking," stressing that jurisprudence does not transform an administrative designation into a labor category.