The President of Cantabria, María José Sáenz de Buruaga (PP), has just faced her first government crisis after only one year in office by dismissing two of her nine advisors: the Minister of Culture, Tourism and Sports, Eva Guillermina Fernández, and the Minister of Rural Development, Livestock, Fisheries and Food, Pablo Palencia, who will be immediately replaced by the current CEO of the public company Cantur, Luis Martínez Abad, in the first case, and by the regional deputy and current mayor of Entrambasaguas, María Jesús Susinos, in the second case.
“I am responsible for a change project that goes beyond the composition of a government and the time has come to give a boost and press the accelerator: there is a project, a pace and an ambition to get there faster and for that I have decided to update the team,” Buruaga stressed in an appearance in which he did not accept questions. Although it was already considered a few months ago that the two councilors were two of the weakest points of the Executive, the decision came as a surprise this Wednesday, when Buruaga urgently summoned the media to make it public.
“I wanted to inform the government because there is no time to lose,” the president insisted. “I will not fall into complacency because I am convinced that the future involves being competitive, attracting talent, facing problems, defending interests against those who want to harm us.”
Pablo Palencia has already entered the government on the wrong foot. As soon as he took office, his ten files of tax debts and the provisional suspension for “serious misconduct” within the Veterinary School were revealed. During this year, he was disapproved by the Parliament of Cantabria and has attracted political criticism and criticism from the Cantabrian primary sector for his controversial management.
Eva Guillermina Fernández, Minister of Culture, has also seen her administration dominated by controversies, such as what happened recently with the management of the tourism excellence plans, and her relationship with the president and the rest of the members of the Council has never been good.
Pulse
Sáenz de Buruaga has oriented the reorganization of his government in a context of “promotion” of its activity, after having completed one year of his mandate. In this context, the president has also announced changes in the names of the ministries of Development and Economy: the name of Housing is added to the first and the name of Autonomous Financing to the second.
The changes in nomenclature were justified by the fact that “the name counts and gives a clear mandate to those in charge. “These are not cosmetic changes.” In the Ministry of Development “we will strengthen our housing policies. The economy will also become self-financing because I never thought we would face a challenge of this magnitude. Regarding the latter, he added: “I refuse that what belongs to everyone is negotiated in the offices of a few and that it is a bargaining chip for unscrupulous politicians, I will fight tooth and nail to defend the interests of all. Let those who want a second-class Cantabria in a dismembered Spain forget,” he commented.
The obsession with investment
The president of Cantabria said that her “obsession is to attract investment and talent from companies.” This is her stated objective, which would have achieved its first phase in this first year of her mandate, according to the argument she defends. The balance sheet is positive, he said, but now a new team would be needed for another, more ambitious scenario.
“A little over a year ago, I assumed the responsibility of presiding over Cantabria with the determination to transform the land where I was born – and he added in what is practically the balance sheet of his 12 months in office -: These months have helped me to put the management in order and undertake an ambitious program of reforms. In a short time, my government has adopted important decisions: we have all reduced taxes; we have launched a strategy to reduce bureaucratic burdens; We have made available to the self-employed an unprecedented plan; we have reactivated public works, housing and wind energy; and relaunched projects such as La Pasiega and MUPAC… We have made politics with efficiency, moderation and common sense, also with dialogue and agreements because we have been able to agree and we have agreed on this government and on the budgets. We are on the right track, our measures are working and we are not complacent.
