King Juan Carlos acts as moderator in Spain's economic crisis

King Juan Carlos acts as moderator in Spain's economic crisis
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By h.b. - Feb 12, 2010 - 2:57 PM
The King has said that he wants to see a State Pact to get the country out of recession

King Juan Carlos - EFE

King Juan Carlos is promoting a cross-party state pact against the recession, claiming that now is the time for consensus.

It’s been revealed that the Monarch has decided to take an active role, and on Thursday held discrete meetings with the Minister for Tax and the Economy, Elena Salgado, and the ex Chairman of Caja Madrid, Miguel Blesa.

Today the King has met with the two main union leaders in Spain, Cándido Méndez of the UGT, and Ignacio Fernández Toxo from CCOO.
On the Royal Household website a statement says that the meeting with Elena Salgado on Thursday comes in a week ‘full of important news’ about the economic crisis.

The response has so far been mixed…

The Government has formally thanked the King for ‘putting his shoulder to the wheel’.

The Partido Popular has said that they will only accept a pact if it contains ‘concrete measures’. Mariano Rajoy has said that he will support Zapatero if he starts to do things ‘with common sense’.
PP sources say that so far at least, they have received no invitations from the King, while Rosa Díez from the UPyD has said that such a pact is impossible with the PP and the PSOE as they are.

Gaspar Llamazares from the I.U. does not like the King getting involved. He said he recognised the Monarch’s ‘moderating capacity’ in a social and political setting, but says that any anti-crisis pact is the exclusive responsibility of the Government.

However the Catalan Nationalist Carod Rovira has applauded his initiative.

Meanwhile unions in Spain are starting to organise protests at the economic situation and a week of demonstrations is being put together. The first day of marches will be February 23 when there will be marches in Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia.

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