“He is not one man more than another if he does not do more than another.” On this premise that Miguel de Cervantes collects in “El Quijote” about equality as a basic right of our coexistence, Castilla-La Mancha is built day by day. A common and supportive path that celebrates more than 40 years of success and that this May 31, Regional Day, we celebrate again.
First of all, we must congratulate all the Castilian and Castilian people in the celebration of this day in our Autonomous Community. A holiday to reaffirm our belonging to this shared project that is Castilla-La Mancha and with which we reach the highest levels of well-being, progress and prosperity in our history. As a delegate of the Government of Spain in the region it is an honor to share with my fellow countrymen these values that have made this land grow strong and free.
We are a proud people of our past - we have seen it these days in the celebrations of the Corpus - because we know that in tradition, in devotion and in respect for our ancestors we find the bridges to cross the waters through which we pass in the present, sometimes calm, sometimes rejoicing.
A present that we are building together and that has the impulse of the Government of Spain to consolidate achievements in recent years such as the updating of pensions according to the cost of living, the increase in the amount of scholarships for our students, the creation of the Minimum Vital Income, the lowering of the price of the receipt of light, the increases in the Minimum Wage to improve the purchasing capacity of the most vulnerable workers, the flexibilization of agricultural policies to respond to the just demands of the rural world or the implementation of regional incentives so that the companies of Castilla-La Mancha reach their full potential and generate jobs.
Along with this, there has been an irreversible shift in the hydrological policy that benefits our land based on the imperative protection of the environment and the obligatory commitment to sustainable development; and, also, a strong institutional, social and legislative response to eradicate the male violence, which this year has taken the life of our convent Candida in Aldea del Rey.
Now we must continue to grow. To this end, the Government of Spain already has important proposals on its agenda to advance social justice, fight climate change, demographic challenge, which affects us so much, and expand rights and freedoms.
And this present and the future that awaits us is about having a strong and supportive Europe. That is what we are playing in the European Parliament elections on 9 June. In recent years we have seen that the decisions taken in the Community institutions are not alien to our daily lives and have a direct effect, improving the real economy of the people. Castilla-La Mancha has already received more than 1.5 billion euros from Next Generation funds that have benefited more than 35,000 companies and citizens of our region.
Spain and Catilla-La Mancha have ahead of them a promising future that involves preserving all the achievements and the good we have achieved so far, which has been a lot; and, at the same time, betting on modernization, competitiveness, and social and territorial cohesion. In that effort we must row together, the Government of Spain, the Government of Castilla-La Mancha and all the local administrations, deputations and the 919 municipalities that make up our Autonomous Community.
As I said in my inauguration, it is an honor to serve the citizens of this land and a pride to represent the Government of Spain, a feeling that is amplified in the celebration of this day. Happy Day of Castile-La Mancha!
Miracles Tolón Jaime
Delegate of the Government of Spain in Castilla-La Mancha