Prime Minister Sanchez blames Putin for the sharp rise in prices
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday for the sharp rise in prices borne by Spanish consumers.
The head of government made this statement during parliamentary question time, after the main opposition party, the conservative People's Party (PP), asked him about the measures he plans to take to curb inflation.
The new general coordinator of the PP, Cuca Gamarra, demanded that the Prime Minister take action to reduce the impact of the rise in prices, which is particularly strong in energy, on companies and households. The conservatives have been demanded tax reductions - for example on fuels - to limit the damage.
Energy prices, and particularly those of electricity and gas, have been rising for months (inflation ended 2021 at 6.5%, the highest rate since 1992 and it was 6.1% in January 2022, before the invasion of Ukraine). However, Sanchez ignored this reality and blamed the Putin and his war for the escalation of prices.
"The new macroeconomic scenario due to the invasion of Ukraine does not excuse you from the mistakes of the past, it demands extraordinary measures that you do not take," Gamarra reminded him in the lower house of Parliament.
'Putin and his illegal war'
Sanchez replied to her stating that "inflation and energy prices are the sole responsibility of Putin and his illegal war in Ukraine."
The boss of the Spanish executive also pointed out that "if we see the development of the price of gas and energy, Putin had been preparing for war for more than a few months".
PP calls for lower taxes
The spokeswoman for the main opposition party did not accept these explanations, since inflation in Spain already began to rise after the summer of 2021. The conservatives also believe that the current lack of control of prices is a result of bad decisions made by the coalition government.
"We already know you, you are the president of a thousand alibis. First you used the pandemic and today we see that you are willing to use war," she told Sanchez.
The PP asked the prime minister to lower taxes.