Barcelona (EFE) “join forces” and prioritize “coexistence and agreement”.
Sánchez extended his hand to the Generalitat in his speech at the welcome dinner of the MWC, in which Felipe VI, Pedro Sánchez, Aragonès and the mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, shared a table in an event held at the National Museum of ‘Art of Catalonia.
The event started with the formal greeting to the king, from which Aragonès and Colau once again absented themselves in protest at the monarch’s presence, as in the last two editions.
However, sources from the Generalitat have specified to Efe that the king and Aragonès have exchanged a few words at the pre-dinner cocktail in which they have highlighted the good prospects with which this edition of the MWC is presented, and that the Catalan president He has also briefly greeted Sánchez.
Despite Aragonès planting the king at the reception, Sánchez has underlined the new climate that relations with Catalonia are going through.
An “open, plural and dynamic” Catalonia
“We are opening a new stage of collaboration, meeting and dialogue, focusing on everything that unites us, which is the progress of Barcelona and Catalonia”, claimed the head of the Executive.
An “open, plural and dynamic” Catalonia for which, he added, “it is worth joining forces and wills”.
“It is something that we all have to dedicate ourselves to. Let’s do it from the value of coexistence and agreement, from the shared will to overcome differences to continue advancing for the good of the people. That is what politics is for”, Sánchez emphasized.
In his opinion, the largest technology fair in the world highlights the positive aspects of collaboration between administrations.
For his part, Aragonès did not make political references in his speech to relations with the Spanish Government and presented Catalonia and Barcelona as the digital capital of Europe.
Likewise, the president thanked the investments in the technology sector in Catalonia and offered this community as a host land for investments in fields such as the European chip.
Felipe VI claims the role of technology in tragedies
Felipe VI has highlighted the role that new technologies play, especially for people affected by wars or natural disasters, allowing them to be connected and united, because “where there is a motive, there is hope, opportunity and help”.
“My most sincere welcome to Barcelona, Catalonia and Spain”, assured the monarch at the beginning of his speech, delivered mainly in English and with some excerpts in Catalan and Spanish.
For Mr. Felipe, the largest technology meeting in the world “identifies well” with Barcelona, where it has been held since 2006, and has contributed to Spain and the Catalan capital “much more than the value provided by the fair itself.”
Colau asks to regulate the rent and abandon projects from the past
Colau took advantage of his speech at the official MWC dinner to celebrate that Barcelona is now the “permanent headquarters” of Mobile but also to send messages to the presidents of the Government and the Generalitat.
The mayoress told Aragonès that in these “complicated” years of the pandemic, the Catalan capital has strengthened itself as an “indisputable economic power”, but that it is time to recover lost ground in fields such as industry 4.0 or energy renewables, and also “close the door to speculative projects of the past.”
He has sent another message, in this case to Sánchez, whom he has urged to “regulate rental prices” to establish a ceiling on increases, a commitment he made “five years ago,” he said.
Aragonés has offered Catalonia and Barcelona as a host land for business investment and has thanked the investments of technological multinationals in Barcelona.
All the authorities have had a memory for the people of Ukraine on the anniversary of the outbreak of the war in that country.
The king, Sánchez and Aragonès will meet again tomorrow at the official opening of the MWC, which is expected to attract more than 80,000 attendees.
A hundred people summoned by the sovereignist entity ANC have protested this afternoon in Plaza España for the presence of the king in the Catalan capital.
