Plan Galicia was an economic recovery plan of the Spanish government that took place in Galicia after the Prestige oil spill. It was adopted by the Spanish Council of Ministers on January 23, 2003, in an attempt to mitigate the consequences of the Prestige disaster. Plan Galicia was presented as complementary to the one approved days before by the Xunta de Galicia.
The budgeted amount, 12,459 million euros, represented almost twice the annual budget of the Xunta de Galicia (also twice the state investment in Expo'92 in Seville and ten times more than the Barcelona Olympics[1]).
The Galicia Plan was presented as complementary to the one approved days before by the Xunta, for a value of 1,663 million euros.
In order to recover the Galician economy after the heavy blow that the oil spill caused both in the economic sectors directly related to the sea (fishing and seafood) and in those indirectly related but which were also damaged after the catastrophe, the government of Aznar held in A Coruña a Council extraordinary meeting of Ministers where an ambitious set of aid was approved and the launch of different initiatives aimed at overcoming the environmental, social and economic consequences derived from the Prestige. The different measures approved included direct aid to the sectors affected by the cessation of activity.
Its objectives were:
It was structured in 13 sectors and included different actions, among which we can cite:
The main criticism formulated by the political forces of the opposition was the absence of time limits, which turned the Plan into a declaration of good intentions and mere propaganda of the Government. Under these conditions, it is impossible to assess the degree of compliance over the years
" The Government came to Galicia to present a mere declaration of intentions to clear its bad conscience. ... It does not define a calendar of actions, nor deadlines for the execution of any of the projects, nor does it commit to the necessary budget changes, even for the next three years."On the other hand, only 40% of the Plan corresponded to new actions while the remaining 60% collected initiatives planned - and budgeted - already before the catastrophe, which were now presented as novelties. Thus, for example, the Pontevedra-A Cañiza highway had already been promised by the PP ten years earlier.Pérez Touriño, 25.01.2003 (La Voz de Galicia, 26.01.2003).
The Council of Ministers at which it was approved was held at the Palacio de María Pita, home of the A Coruña council. Fraga, Paco Vázquez (mayor of A Coruña) and Martín Villa (appointed a few days earlier as Government Commissioner for the Prestige disaster) were present among the public attending the subsequent press conference.
Paco Vázquez, who in addition to acting as host to the ministers sat with them at the press conference and posed for the family photo of the cabinet, declared himself proud and honored by the celebration of the Council in the city and praised the conclusions. At the same press conference, Aznar announced the granting of the Grand Cross of the Order of Isabel la Católica to the mayor, thanking him for his hospitality
" The Galicia Plan basically coincides with what was expressed by Zapatero the day before, which means the existence of a clear political commitment on the part of all the parties "Beiras, spokesperson for the BNG, assured that the plan was " a farce " and that " the PP thinks it can buy the Galicians ".Paco Vázquez, 25.01.2003 (La Voz de Galicia, 26.01.2003).
In front of the Palace, a group of demonstrators called by Nunca Máis [3] expressed their revulsion against the Government and against Paco Vázquez himself and unsuccessfully tried to enter the square of María Pita, which prevented the strong police presence; 45 Nunca Más flags waved on the balconies of the square.
Paco Vázquez was the only socialist who distanced himself from the opposition's protest against the Government, which caused him to distance himself definitively from Rodríguez Zapatero (Secretary General of the PSOE since 2000). In 2006 he was appointed ambassador to the Holy See[4] in the Vatican and returned to A Coruña in 2011, when he was relieved of his duties, but without any political prominence.