The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, defended this Tuesday that "what Spain is achieving is something extraordinary," focusing on the recent evolution of the economy and employment despite an international scenario "that is not being easy at all."
The head of the Executive made these remarks during his appearance at La Moncloa to take stock of the political course and present the periodic accountability report 'Cumpliendo.'
In his speech, he insisted that "What Spain is achieving is something extraordinary, due to the moment in which it occurs and the magnitude of what is happening; it is a true success of the country," emphasizing that current Spain "is very different" from that of ten years ago, which "condemned an entire generation to chronic unemployment and economic exile."
In contrast to that situation, Sánchez highlighted the data from the Active Population Survey (EPA) published this Tuesday, according to which unemployment decreased by 213,300 people in the second quarter, 7.87% less than in the previous quarter, and the number of employed rose to 22.77 million, surpassing the record of 22.46 million at the end of last year.
He stressed that "This is the strength, the reality of our labor market, which I believe is a success of the country of entrepreneurs, of the self-employed, also of the workers and undoubtedly also of the set of public institutions and our country."
At the same time, he maintained that progress has been made not only in the volume of employment but also in its quality. In his view, after the labor reform, the high levels of temporality and precariousness that constituted one of the main Achilles' heels of the Spanish labor market have been partially corrected.
The Ibex chains records and the economy leads European growth
In the macroeconomic field, Sánchez highlighted that Spain has been "for almost three years the largest growing economy in Europe" and recalled that the European Commission has revised its projections for the country upwards, now forecasting a growth of 2.6% in 2026, in a context where expectations for the main economies in the environment are being cut. "We are going to close 2026 growing five times more than Italy, four times more than Germany, and three times more than France," he stated.
According to the president, this dynamism is reflected "especially" in the confidence of foreign capital. As an example, he has mentioned the evolution of the Ibex, which "has not stopped breaking records" so far this year, as well as the launch of more than 60,000 new companies and the arrival of "important international investors" who choose Spain as the "main destination".
He has also stated that the country has left behind stages of "bubbles", such as the real estate one, and the model based on precarious employment, while "the health of public accounts" is being reinforced. In this line, he has claimed the "fiscal rigor" of the Executive as a piece of a "virtuous circle" that combines economic transformation, the distribution of the benefits of growth among the middle class, the working class, and the most vulnerable groups, and the sustainability of state finances.
He has pointed out as an example that, since the pandemic, public debt has been reduced by 20 points and the deficit is below 3% of GDP.
Sánchez has attributed part of "this success" to the European Next Generation EU funds and has reminded that Spain is among the two countries that are best executing these resources. He has highlighted the recent approval of the sixth disbursement, which will arrive in the coming weeks and will allow approaching 100 billion euros mobilized.