Alex Trelinski
MERCADONA supermarket chain president, Juan Roig, issued a stark warning on Thursday about Spain’s political situation as Pedro Sanchez secured a second term as prime minister in an investiture vote in Congress.
Attending a Mediterranean Corridor business summit at the Ifema centre in Madrid, the Valencian entrepreneur said he was concerned about divisions being created in Spanish society.
“What we see is that businessmen and workers are the ones who generate wealth in this country and, in addition, we generate jobs,” Roig said.
“We need politicians to give us peace of mind, to give us the pace to follow and, above all, to not put any brakes on our wheels but lately we are seeing a confrontation between politicians and the rest of society which spreads into division between Spaniards,” he warned.
Roig suggested that there may be companies that decide change their expansion plans in Spain.
“If we had Spain’s problem in Portugal(a country where Mercadona is expanding), we would slow down investments,” he added.
Also at the event attended by 1,800 people was the president of the Valencian Association of Businessmen, Vicente Boluda, said he was ‘concerned’ with the pacts that Sanchez had agreed to in order to stay in power.
Boluda said that the government is ‘leading citizens to confrontation’ and struggle a between employers and workers.
In addition, he called for a nationwide referendum to determine the future of Catalunya, rather than one purely within the Catalan region.
READ MORE:
- Pedro Sanchez voted back in as Spain’s prime minister after securing controversial support of Catalan separatists
- Explainer: Why are people across Spain protesting against Pedro Sanchez’s Catalan amnesty deal?
- Mercadona to enjoy a record year with more than €30bn in sales predicted
