SPAIN THIS WEEK

Monday, 6 February 2017

03/02/2017 "Europe must speak with one clear voice, committed to the values of the European project", says Mariano Rajoy The President of the Government, Mariano Rajoy, took part in Valletta (Malta) in the meeting of Heads of State and Government of the European Union, who defended European identity and cohesion. He also announced that Spain will remain committed to greater political and economic integration and to security.

01/02/2017 ​Mariano Rajoy stresses that government decisions have allowed electricity prices to be similar to those in 2015 During the government control session in the Lower House of Parliament, the President of the Government, Mariano Rajoy, defended the government's actions in light of the situation of the savings banks. He remarked that "we did what needed to be done" because, if we had not acted like that, "our financial system would have gone bankrupt" and "we would have suffered serious economic problems that would have affected us all".

01/02/2017 President of the Government receives Ibero-American Secretary General The President of the Government, Mariano Rajoy, met with the Ibero-American Secretary General, Rebeca Grynspan, at Moncloa Palace.

31/01/2017 "I am going to eliminate neither our national sovereignty nor the equality of the Spanish people", says Mariano Rajoy The President of the Government, Mariano Rajoy, reiterated, after attending an institutional event at the headquarters of the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces, that Catalonia cannot hold a referendum to decide on Spain without this being done by the people of Spain as a whole.

31/01/2017 Mariano Rajoy argues that local councils should be "proactive" when it comes to providing structure to Spain During an institutional event to posthumously award Rita Barberá with the Golden Key for Municipal Contribution, granted by the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (Spanish acronym: FEMP), the President of the Government, Mariano Rajoy, underlined the role played by local and provincial councils, since they are the authorities that are closest to the public and those which resolve "the day-to-day problems of everyone".

31/01/2017 Mariano Rajoy receives families of victims of Yak-42 At Moncloa Palace, the President of the Government, Mariano Rajoy, accompanied by the Minister for Defence, María Dolores de Cospedal, received the association of families of the servicemen who lost their lives in the Yak-42 aircraft in Turkey, returning home from a mission in Afghanistan. The meeting, which lasted for close on two hours, was described by the President of the Government as "frank and cordial".

30/01/2017 Mariano Rajoy receives President of the Republic of Ecuador The President of the Government, Mariano Rajoy, received the President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, accompanied by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ecuador, Guillaume Long, at Moncloa Palace. During the course of their meeting, the two leaders reviewed bilateral relations and relations between the EU and Ecuador, as well as the main issues on the regional Ibero-American agenda.

03/02/2017 Government develops law to de-index public prices and inflation The government approved the Regulation on the Law on De-indexing, which seeks to avoid general price rises from automatically passing on to certain public sector goods and services, such as bus tickets and medication. The Council of Ministers also agreed on the Institutional Advertising and Communication Plan for 2017.

04/02/2017	Spain applies for CEF funding for investments in excess of 500 million euros
02/02/2017	Number of unemployed rises in January by 57,257
02/02/2017	Number of National Insurance contributors rises by 569,817 year-on-year, the highest increase in the last decade
31/01/2017	Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Alfonso Dastis, meets Director-General of Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
31/01/2017	Spain applies for 270 million euros from the EU within the framework of the fruit and vegetable aid system for 2017
31/01/2017	Overall public deficit falls to 8.7% to November, excluding local authorities
30/01/2017	Alfonso Dastis visits the headquarters of the International Criminal Court in The Hague
30/01/2017	"Spain is in favour of a deeper integration process and wants to see more Europe and a better Europe", said Alfonso Dastis