T he spring is going to be one of passion and tension between the sanchismo-socialism of Andalusia. And trouble is brewing between Sanchistas Luis Planas (Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food) and María Jesús Montero, still vice president and Minister of Finance, as well as a socialist candidate in this community, which will hold elections in just over two months. The reason is the distribution of the 2,121 million euros promised in direct aid for farmers and ranchers in Andalusia and Extremadura who have been affected by the train of storms last winter. The story is long and has its “that” based on three words: “de minimis regime.”
The government of Pedro Sánchez saw an electoral opportunity in the damage caused by the train of storms in the Andalusian countryside, on the eve of the regional elections, and got to work. On the one hand, Planas pushed his band of senior Agriculture officials, headed by the undersecretary, Ernesto Abati García-Manso, to design a powerful aid package. For that, money was needed, and there was no problem in obtaining an extraordinary loan from the Ministry of Finance in the amount of 2,121 million, which Montero “released” more easily than expected, to irrigate a good number of farmers in Andalusia during the electoral campaign, with her as a socialist candidate. First fact that could be described as striking: these 2,121 million represent a much higher amount than that allocated to Agriculture in the last General State Budgets, which would amount to 1,500 million euros in the best of cases. This is the money that Spain provides, without taking into account the items that arrive from Brussels within the framework of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
The second striking fact is in the text of the Royal Decree Law approved by the Government last month and published in the BOE on February 19, which was validated last week in Congress. This regulation establishes “extraordinary aid to compensate for the loss of income in affected agricultural and aquaculture farms, which will be granted under the de minimis aid system”, with a minimum amount of 5,000 euros and a maximum of 25,000. The aforementioned regime is provided for in EU regulations and opens the possibility for Member States to pay national aid for a maximum amount. In the case of Spain, the limit is set at 1,200 million for a period of three years. The problem is that our country has already spent around 850 million, so there would only be a balance of 350 million compared to the aforementioned 2,121 that the Government intends to pay. And here comes the big question: how is this “botched” plan by Planas and his gang going to be solved, which could have an impact on Montero’s election campaign?
There is more to this soap opera, which has only just begun. The Minister of Agriculture (and the Minister of Finance as well) have reiterated that in March the list of beneficiaries would be closed, that they would not have to do paperwork and that the money would reach the accounts of farmers and ranchers in April, that is, a few weeks before the electoral campaign begins in Andalusia. The announcement of the “Planas-Montero package” with this measure raised a lot of expectation and also discomfort among the people of the Andalusian countryside for several reasons. Firstly, due to the distribution system and, secondly, due to the geographical scope of application, since many farms in provinces such as Almería, Granada or Málaga, among others, which also suffered damage, and in which protest demonstrations have already been registered, have been left out.
What will happen if the promises are not fulfilled and the amount of money promised, the blessed 2,121 million, does not arrive on the scheduled dates and deadlines? Well, it is not risky to say that this possibility, certain, unless the de minimis system is not used, for which the Royal Decree Law validated last week would have to be changed, will have a significant impact on the election campaign and will deteriorate the relations, already battered, between those two pillars of Andalusian social-sanchism, such as Montero and Planas. By the way, we already know the hidden reasons for some of his latest and strange trips, such as the one to Mexico: to gather support for his candidacy for director general of the FAO, while we Spaniards pay for his travel campaign.