The acting first vice president, Nadia Calviño, has many more doubts than the second, Yolanda Díaz, when it comes to facing the complex situation due to the purchase by the Saudi group Saudi Telecom Company (STC) of almost 10% of the shares of Telephone. Díaz is very clear that the operation must be stopped, and she called Calviño on Friday to tell him. “We cannot allow this operation to continue,” she said in public bluntly. The Minister of Economy, who is in New Delhi as the highest representative of the Spanish Government at the G-20 meeting – Pedro Sánchez has not been able to attend because he has tested positive for covid – did not want to clarify what she answered to Díaz, But she has made it clear that she has not yet made a decision and does not see that the only way out is yes or yes to stop the operation. “Spain is a serious country,” Calviño said in an indirect response to Díaz. “The exchanges that occur in the Government are not something to comment on. But the Government’s position is clear. We have strengthened the mechanisms to protect Spain’s interests, making them compatible with attracting foreign investment, which is very important for the technological modernization of our country. Spain is a serious country, we will carry out a rigorous analysis and apply all the necessary mechanisms to guarantee the protection of the strategic interest.”
The translation is simple: Díaz sees clearly that the operation must be stopped, Calviño does not want to make a decision until he has carefully studied the consequences. In Economy they are especially worried about the reactions. Saudi Arabia has great interests in Spain and is also a fundamental client for large Spanish companies, especially naval and construction companies. But not only Saudi Arabia: other countries are very attentive to the Government’s movements to make decisions about their investments. Calviño believes it is a priority to maintain the image of Spain as a country with legal security and open to the arrival of foreign capital, increasingly present in the large Ibex 35 companies, especially energy companies, but also telecommunications companies, such as Telefónica.
However, Sumar is very clear that the investment of 10% of a company closely linked to the Government of a theocratic authoritarian regime like that of Saudi Arabia must be stopped, as a clear message that Spain will defend its interests. In the socialist sector of the Government, caution is being taken these days, because the issue is very delicate, but the messages that arrive suggest that Pedro Sánchez and his team are thinking about a way to stop the operation or, at least, condition it in a way very strong to prevent a strategic company like Telefónica, the most relevant of all and which was public until the end of the 90s, from falling into the hands of a foreign government with a very bad reputation. The country was accused by the United States of being behind the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. The example used in the Government is that of the takeover bid by the Australian IFM fund for Naturgy in 2021, which was finally authorized by the Council of Ministers but with very clear conditions on the guarantee of employment, limited dividends or investment in renewables.
In any case, the decision does not seem imminent. There will be a lot of technical and political discussion before taking it. Executive sources limit themselves to repeating that “all options are on the table”, including stopping the operation, and to do so there are many possible mechanisms, although the Saudis, with Spanish advisors, have searched for legislation to try to avoid the government’s veto.
The option of accepting the operation with very strict conditions is the one that would avoid a direct clash with Saudi Arabia and other countries with the intention of increasing their presence in large Spanish companies, but politically it would mean a confrontation with Sumar, which wants to stop the operation cold. receive criticism from the opposition, which also rejects it, and assume that the first shareholder of the largest Spanish multinational is a company very closely linked to the Mohammed Bin Salman regime. The crown prince is in New Delhi to participate in the G-20, but neither Calviño nor José Manuel Albares, the Foreign Minister, who has also traveled to the summit, plan to meet him or the Saudi delegation to discuss this matter. , according to government sources.
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