- SpaceX set to launch mission to return stranded astronauts
- Storm Helene kills 44, threatens more 'catastrophic' flooding
- Boeing strike grinds on as latest talks fail to reach agreement
- Iran 'news' sites, hackers target Trump ahead of US election
- US ports brace for potential dockworkers strike
- Japan's speedy, spotless Shinkansen bullet trains turn 60
- US hurricane deaths rise to 44, fears of more 'catastrophic' flooding
- Global stocks mostly rise, cheering Beijing stimulus
- Europe en route for Moon with new simulator, says astronaut Pesquet
- Fireworks forecast if comet survives risky Sun flypast
- Argentina judge orders dictionary to delete pejorative definition of 'Jewish'
- Global stocks rise on rate hopes, Beijing stimulus
- S.African woman turns 118, among the oldest in the world
- UK clears $4 bn AI partnership between Amazon, Anthropic
- Barca fans barred from Champions League away game over racist banner
- Chinese stocks extend surge, Europe higher on Beijing stimulus
- Pope says Church must 'seek forgiveness' for child sexual abuse
- China caps week of 'bazooka' stimulus for ailing economy with rate cut
- Cuts, cash, credit: China bids to jumpstart flagging economy
- France's debt weighs heavier ahead of budget debate
- Iran treads carefully, backing Hezbollah while avoiding war
- Return to sender: waste stranded at sea stirs toxic dispute
- 'Broken' news industry faces uncertain future
- On remote Greek island, migratory birds offer climate clues
- Taken from mother by nuns, victim seeks answers as pope visits Belgium
- China cuts amount banks hold in reserve to boost lending
- Hong Kong, Shanghai extend surge as China optimism boosts markets
- Vietnam president reiterates support for Cuba during official visit
- Drought reduces Amazon River in Colombia by as much as 90%: report
- Stay or go? Pacific Islanders face climate's grim choice
- Florida bracing for 'unsurvivable' Hurricane Helene
- Poverty rises to over 52 percent in Milei's Argentina
- Chloe's see-through look may not be for Kamala Harris
- Champagne houses abuzz over English sparkling wine
- Macron, Trudeau pledge to work for 'decarbonized' economies
- Hurricanes, storms, typhoons... Is September wetter than usual?
- China stimulus, tech optimism boost stock markets
- 'Unsurvivable' Hurricane Helene races towards Florida
- Macron meets Trudeau in Canada as both face political setbacks
- South Korea surges in UN innovation index
- Chloe's see-through look may not be for Kamala
- Floods threaten Niger's historic 'gateway to the desert'
- China economy hopes boost global equities
- Ubisoft shares sink after 'Assassin's Creed' delay
- German economy to shrink again in 2024: think tanks
- Hong Kong's New World Development replaces CEO Adrian Cheng
- Swiss central bank cuts rate again amid strong franc worries
- Germany's BASF to focus on 'core units' in major overhaul
- China admits economy facing new 'problems', vows to fix property sector
- Stock markets boosted by China hopes, tech rally
Tension in Spain over use of EU recovery funds
The Spanish government is increasingly under fire over its use of the European Union's massive economic recovery funds, with critics blasting the distribution of aid as too slow and arbitrary.
Spain is due to receive 140 billion euros ($160 billion) from the fund by 2026, half of it in grants, making it the programme's second-biggest beneficiary after Italy.
The landmark 800-billion-euro recovery plan was approved by Brussels in July 2020 to help the bloc rebound from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, and make its economy greener and more digitalised.
"We are talking about extraordinary amounts," Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said earlier this month, calling the funds "a historic opportunity for Spain".
Spain and Portugal were the first nations to receive money, with Madrid collecting 19 billion euros during the second half of 2021.
The funds are at the heart of the economic and political strategy of Sanchez's government after the economy contracted by a whopping 10.8 percent in 2020 under its watch as the pandemic hit.
The government faces elections by the end of 2023.
But some business leaders and opposition parties have complained about a lack of coordination between the central government and Spain's powerful regions over the deployment of the money.
- 'Lack of leadership' -
Although Spain was the first to receive aid, the money was "not injected" as fast as expected in the "real economy", the CEOE employers' association said in a report in early January.
By the end of the year, only 38 percent of the funds allocated to Spain for 2021 had been used, official figures show.
This is "very far from the targets" that were set and the delay in using the aid will hamper growth, think-tank Funcas has warned.
Aerospace giant Airbus complained of a lag in the allotment of the funds, citing a "lack of coordination and leadership" from the responsible ministries, according to an internal memo published in El Pais newspaper last month.
Critics also say that even when the money is distributed, it is often not well spent, with small amounts spread across many projects.
"The current assignment system for the funds" leads to their "dispersion" and favours "little projects", some of them "a bit odd," said the Exceltur tourism association's vice president, Jose Luis Zoreda.
He cited as an example a golf course in the rainy northern region of Asturias.
To have a "real impact", the funds should focus on "a few large projects" with a strong potential to "transform" the Spanish economy, he added.
- 'Cruising speed' -
The row has in recent days become political, with the right-wing opposition Popular Party (PP) accusing the government of favouring regions and municipalities run by the left.
"Two years ago we proposed setting up an independent agency for managing EU funds" as happened in Greece, Italy and France, PP leader Pablo Casado said.
"But Sanchez preferred to distribute aid arbitrarily," he charged.
Casado and several right-wing regional leaders have threatened to take the government to court over the distribution of the EU money, accusing it of "favouritism".
But Sanchez quickly hit back.
"Let's not turn the European funds into a partisan question... which is what the opposition wants," Sanchez said Monday during a news conference with visiting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Economy Minister Nadia Calvino, who served as director general in charge of the EU budget from 2014 to 2018, dismissed the PP's criticisms as "not relevant".
The deployment of European funds will achieve its "cruising speed" in 2022, she added.
A.Agostinelli--CPN