The controversy continues around Ferrovial’s decision to move its headquarters to the Netherlands. The president of the Government, Pedro Sanchezhas once again quoted the top executive of Ferrovial, Rafael del Pino, to reproach him for “the homeland is not just making heritageis to be supportive, lend a shoulder, and help, above all, when your country needs you”. This is the second time that the head of the Executive has spoken out against the decision of the construction group.
Along these lines, Pedro Sánchez has maintained that the progress of the company is not related to legal guarantees, “which exist because in all the international indices of Spain, both from the OECD and from the most prestigious in the world, rank the country as one of the safest places to be able to invest and there are the data”.
Some demonstrations that delve into the line of argument deployed since the decision was known and, by the mouth of several ministers of his cabinet, for which Ferrovial owes a lot to Spain and the transfer of its corporate and fiscal headquarters would be a sign of disloyalty.
An “unfair” decision
In this line, the third vice president and minister for the Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, who has dismissed Ferrovial’s move to the Netherlands as “a political act” and, in his opinion, we are facing an “unfair” decision. The number three of the Government has abounded that Ferrovial is “a company whose capital accumulation is closely linked to public worksand fortunately Spanish society understands that there is a responsibility on the part of companies”.
For the Minister of Finance, Maria Jesus Montero, it is “an isolated decision that is produced by a particular decision” of its president. Montero has reported that he had a “cordial conversation” with the president of Ferrovial, Rafael del Pino, in which he expressed the government’s displeasure with the decision. In any case, he has highlighted that in the past year 2022, “there were 50% more foreign investment in our country than the previous year”, so that “30,000 million euros came” to Spain “because of the conditions of stability, taxation, and demand that exist in Spain”.
“Little social commitment”
The Minister of Transport has been very critical, raquel sanchez, who has ensured that Ferrovial’s decision shows “the lack of social commitment of those who often describe themselves as patriots.” Regarding a possible exclusion of the company from future public tenders and tenders, the socialist leader has remarked that the Government “complies with the law and regulations” that define how this contract should be.
For his part, the head of Inclusion, Social Security and MigrationsJose Luis Escriva, has insisted on the idea that Ferrovial’s announcement should not “at all” be considered as an issue that generates a “particular problem” in the face of the growing flow of foreign investment in Spain. In a breakfast-discussion organized by the Association for the Progress of Management (APD) organized in Valladolid, he added that Spain registers a “acceleration” of foreign investment During the last years. In this sense, he has given as an example the technology companies that “are expanding and growing in Spain”.
