The economist and former Minister of Energy, Tourism and Digital Agenda Álvaro Nadal, said Friday that the economy in Spain is in a “very good” situation after clearing “many of the uncertainties” of the year 2022.
He said this in statements to journalists after participating in the MAPFRE breakfast meeting, where he recalled that last year “there were fears of a major energy crisis, that inflation would not fall, that interest rates would suffocate both household consumption through mortgages and business activity due to a lack of bank liquidity”.
However, he said, in this year 2023 the Spanish economy “is growing, inflation is falling and, although interest rates are still rising, they are already rising less”, pointing out that “we are not” seeing this financial asphyxia.
In any case, he pointed out that as a country it is necessary to adopt a series of decisions, which he focused on the need to “gain competitiveness” abroad, to support exporting companies and obviously tourism is one of them, although he added that the Canary Islands have “many things besides tourism”, as he pointed out that they are generating a “very interesting service economy and, above all, exports to the African continent”, as well as an agri-food sector that “is very powerful”.
RENEWABLE ENERDY TECHNOLOGIES, AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE CANARY ISLANDS
On the other hand, he also spoke of the opportunities that exist for the Canary Islands, and in this regard he referred to the deployment of renewable energies as one of the elements that “are contributing to improving, not only economically, but above all environmentally, the quality of the Canary Islands’ energy system”.
However, he added, “it is important” to think beyond energy generation, in other words, “the network, the interconnection between islands” because he said it is “very difficult technically”.
He added that they also referred to the tourism model, as well as the prospects for the tourism sector, especially from the United Kingdom, where “for now things are going reasonably well and it is true that it has regained its position as the main issuer” to Spain and within Spain “clearly the Canary Islands”.
As for how what happens on 23 July could influence the economy, Nadal was cautious, pointing out that it is already “difficult for him to make economic predictions” and to talk about what might happen in politics is “much more difficult”.
