Arturo Bernal: “We must overcome grievances, Seville and Malaga airports are perfectly compatible”

The Minister of Tourism and Foreign Affairs of Andalusia was part of the delegation chaired by President Juanma Moreno that traveled to China to conclude agreements between Andalusia and the Asian giant, perhaps the most emerging market of world tourism. For ABC, Bernal appreciates the importance of travel. – Foreign action, which is another part of my ministry, is very pleasant and very necessary. The trip to China was not only an institutional action, but also an action of international diplomacy. We had Juanma Moreno, our main political actor, in a country like China who opened its doors to us and treated him almost like that of a head of state. It’s a recognition, because other presidents of autonomous communities have gone to China and said “Juanma, no one listened to me.” – Are you satisfied with the result – 2.5 billion euros of direct investments were brought to Andalusia and more than a billion euros. a thousand jobs. This is not a coincidence. We made two very close trips to China, that of the President of the Council and that of the President of the Government; If you take each trip’s diary, you will notice that there is no color. A good job was done, being absolutely loyal to the Spanish government, because the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the embassy were informed at all times. We work in absolute compliance with the Spanish Foreign Action Law, which reserves a margin of action for autonomous communities. To exercise it or not is a matter for each community, and we want to exercise it to the end. -How do you assess the dispute between Seville and Malaga over the flight? -I think people should travel more. And when I say people, I mean politicians and opinion makers. This is not the first time this has happened, we are subjecting these issues to disputes between cities and I believe we need to overcome this. We have two important international airports in Andalusia, Seville and Malaga, which are perfectly complementary. When we go to an airline, we don’t talk about airport A, B or C as our priority, but rather the conditions and characteristics of each airport, and they decide. Do you know how many Chinese are staying in Andalusia this year? Around 100,000. And do you know how many come directly to Andalusia? None, because they have to stop at other airports. We present a business case to the companies, we sit down at the table and talk about their numbers, not ours, and we make them understand that flying is profitable and that they are losing money if they don’t. have no direct flight with Andalusia. The precise destination point is a decision that does not concern us, it belongs to the company, which does it on the basis of technical criteria -Is the flight to Asia so strategic -In Asia and the Pacific we will have between 2035 and 2035. In 2040, more than 60% of the global middle class. Are we interested in these tourists who come to Andalusia? Will we be interested in our foreign trade developing there? Of course. In just seven years, China has managed to lift 800 million people out of poverty and into the middle class. A very powerful middle class, from BMW, Lexus and Mercedes. This is the new center of the world, the world map that we used in school which had Europe and the United States in the middle has changed, and now the epicenter of the planet is in this region of Asia. We need to be aware of this change, and the sooner we take the necessary steps to have a relevant position in the region, the better. And Europe? What is the role of Andalusia? -In Europe we have done very well. Over the last five years, thanks to the work of Antonio Sanz and previously Elias Bendodo, we have achieved an incredible positioning in Europe. The first time we were relevant in Europe in forty years was with a PP government whose president is vice-president of the Committee of the Regions of Europe. In Andalusia, the relevance of this role is unknown; We are a region that leads projects in Europe and sets the tone in terms of regulation and approach to issues. In four decades, Andalusia has not carried out a single project, and in five years, we have issued four critical opinions: climate change, the green economy, sustainable tourism and the role of the regions. Four in five years, zero in forty. This is change in Andalusia. And we must now export this dynamic to other regions of the world.

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