Hellín.- The delegate of the Government of Spain in Castilla-La Mancha, Francisco Tierraseca, has insisted that employment "is a priority objective of the Government of Spain" not only in "quantity", but also in "quality", and that the increase of the SMI guarantees that workers have access to a "decent wage".
He said this to the media during a visit that Tierraseca made to Hellín, together with the General Director of SEPE, Gerardo Gutiérrez, to attend a training day and to see the development of the four projects approved in this municipality through the Special Plan of Employment of Depressed Rural Areas (PEEZRD). In it they have been accompanied by the mayor, Ramón García, the deputy delegate of the Government in Albacete, Miguel Juan Espinosa, and the provincial director of SEPE, Teresa Losa.
Tierraseca stressed that Hellín is “back on the agenda of the Government of Spain”, in a day in which “employment is going to be the center of attention” from two scenarios, a day in which employment is talked about in the tourism field, with the support of the Tourism Sustainability Plan granted to Hellín, and the development of the projects promoted by SEPE in the locality thanks to the Special Plan of Employment of Depressed Rural Areas.
Employment in the tourism sector is an opportunity, Tierraseca has defended, thanking the mayor for his effort to attract such a large investment and with an “obvious” impact on tourism, but employment in the agricultural sector is fundamental for provinces such as Albacetña and localities such as Hellín, and the Government of Spain promotes it, in this case, through PEEZRD.
“A plan whose objective is to make it possible to hire temporary agricultural workers in off-season periods and which allows them to continue their activity working in the locality in the development of green areas and the maintenance of municipal infrastructures,” said the government delegate.
Support for the rural environment
In particular, “the four projects carried out in Hellín will allow the hiring of 130 unemployed in the agricultural sector, for a joint subsidy of 627,000 euros,” Tierraseca said. In addition, the delegate thanked SEPE that “Albacete has been key to the consolidation of the Plan, first for its commitment to the rural world, since in this call more than 3 million euros will be invested, and then, for its commitment to employment, by allowing the hiring of 640 people, workers of the field”, in the development of 92 projects.
Employment is a “priority objective” of the Government of Spain, not only in quantity, by continuing “with good job creation data”, but also in quality, since in this case, in what the workers beneficiaries of the PEEZRD are going to charge “all the increases of the SMI are going to be reflected, so “progress is made not only in the creation of employment, but also in the dignity of that employment”.
Gerardo Gutiérrez, General Director of SEPE, has highlighted, for his part, that the Tourism Sustainability Plan, besides being a very important investment, “will serve to bring quality employment to Hellín and its region” at a time when, “a year after the Labor Reform, it has already been proven with data that indefinite employment is growing, wages have increased” and the recent increase in the SMI “means chaining an increase of 46% in the last four years”.
All this makes it possible that “despite the times of uncertainty, the country can continue to sustain economic growth and employment” and do so, in addition, “taking advantage of the European Funds”.
Regarding the Special Plan for Depressed Rural Areas, before visiting the projects with the delegate and the mayor, Gutiérrez recalled that “this year, for the first time, we have incorporated training in basic digital skills to rural women”.
At the same time, the mayor of Hellín, Ramón García, referred to the Conference ‘Employment, Training and Tourism Industry: Destination Hellín’, organized within the framework of the Tourism Sustainability Plan of the municipality, and has stated that “what we want is to reverse the employment situation in our city a little and that tourism can be an important niche for generating wealth and employment”. This is something they intend to do, in addition to the 3.5 million euros from the Government of Spain and the Government of Castilla-La Mancha, “also counting on the support of private initiative” and that the scope of benefit is “the whole province of Albacete”.