With the serenity of someone who knows the foundations of Spain, Felipe González, former president of the Governmentraised his voice again through the countryside and the rural sector:“Without the primary sector there is no Europe and there is no country,” warned the former president of the Government during the debate Cohesion and territory: the challenge of depopulated Spain, held in the first edition of the Desayunos del Campo, a forum promoted by Grayling and sponsored by SOS Rural and the Community of Irrigators of Campo de Cartagena.
González, accompanied by the former Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Manuel Pimentel, focused his intervention on the need for a national project that returns dignity and prominence to the rural world. He claimed the historical role of the countryside and its active agents in both agriculture and livestock, “food producers who have saved Europe from wars and famines.” Thus, the former socialist leaderHe asked for a State pact that would recover the “productive and useful occupation” of the territory. “A truce of insults is needed for there to be a week of dialogue around the primary sector,” he claimed.
González defended the compatibility between rural development and renewable energies, but stressed the urgency of reaching real consensus. “We are not against renewables, but we have to have a real dialogue”he insisted. In a self-critical tone, he lamented the growing lack of political understanding “in a Spain that dialogues less and less, meetings like this are essential. “I have received criticism for coming, but I come because I want to talk.” He also recalled that “living off the countryside today is almost impossible”, despite the fact that agricultural work “protects the territory, fights fires and feeds the country.” For this reason, he proposed compensating those who keep the earth alive, recognizing their work as an indispensable public service. He also highlighted the launch of initiatives such as Desayunos del Campo, spaces where ideas are debated and where dialogue takes center stage.
The future of the rural world
Manuel Pimentel warned about the direct consequences of the loss of productive capacity in Spain. “If Alicante, Murcia or Almería stop producing, we will see the real price of food,” he warned. The former minister stressed the need to value agricultural work and water as an engine of life and territorial development.
On the other hand, from SOS Rural, its spokesperson Natalia Corbalan He recalled the urgency of protecting the useful agricultural area by law, as is already happening in France or Italy. This measure, he explained, would prevent the destruction of fertile soil from industrial uses and would guarantee the country’s food sovereignty. The meeting, which brought together political leaders, scientists and businessmen, was consolidated as an essential space for reflection for the future of the Spanish rural world, an event where, finally, the countryside once again occupied the center of public debate and raised its main concerns.