As the Spanish government had planned, today was the last cabinet meeting for Salvador Illa. The until-now health minister returns to Catalonia to be the Catalan Socialist (PSC) candidate in the Catalan elections. This has led to a reorganization of the Spanish government, which was announced by Pedro Sánchez himself after communicating it to king Felipe VI. There were no surprises. "A minimal adjustment," were the words of the Spanish prime minister. The health portfolio has been passed to Carolina Darias, who has supported Illa in the management of the coronavirus. The vacancy thus created in her former position, in the territorial ministry, will be filled by the other person taking part in the Socialists' game of musical chairs: the first secretary of the PSC, Miquel Iceta, thus maintaining the Catalan quota. The three-way swap began when the original candidate, Iceta, made way for the former Catalan minister who has gained a public profile thanks to the pandemic. Tomorrow Iceta and Darias will be officially sworn in.
Miquel Iceta's jump to the Moncloa government palace comes after several frustrated attempts to catch the train to Madrid. The last attempt was when Pedro Sánchez tried to place him in the presidency of the Senate, but the Catalan Republican Left prevented him from achieving the necessary prerequisite - becoming a senator in the Parliament of Catalonia. Now he will land in a portfolio that the PSC has already occupied, that of territorial policy, where Meritxell Batet was minister before becoming speaker of the Congress of Deputies.
For her part, Carolina Darias is left with the health portfolio. Along with Salvador Illa, she has been the minister who has been involved in the management of the coronavirus crisis. In recent months she has been present at the vast majority of meetings between the health ministry and Spain's autonomous communities. But the changeover comes at a critical time: with the third wave of the virus raging and the need to speed up the vaccination process.
What did prime minister Sánchez say about Miquel Iceta? "Miquel Iceta is a well-known politician, a scholar of politics, a person of ideas and a builder of consensus in a decentralized state," the PM said, predicting that "co-governance has come to stay." He said that the PSC secretary is "the person who will decline all verbs with this prefix: cooperation, collaboration, co-governance." He asserted that the Catalan is "a man of concord." With regard to Darias, the Socialist party leader stressed that "she has shared the day-to-day management of the pandemic with Salvador Illa", both in the Interterritorial Council and in the internal committee meetings of the executive. She knows the regional authorities well. "She herself formed an autonomous government, that of the Canary Islands," said the Spanish PM.
First of all, however, the leader of the Spanish government wanted to say a little about the outgoing minister, and unsurprisingly they were all words of gratitude. "He has been an extraordinary minister, an honest person who has always avoided political confrontation in these hard times," said Sanchez, already campaigning. “He has always shown capacity for dialogue,” he asserted. And he concluded: "If I had to highlight one quality of his passage through the ministry of health, it would be one word: respect."
Illa's last words
Today, Salvador Illa appeared for the last time at the Moncloa press conference, after the cabinet meeting. His last words were of gratitude. First, to the members of the Congressional and Senate health committees, whom he has abandoned just before he was due at a ministerial accountability session. Secondly, to the 23 health heads from the autonomous communities with whom he has worked side by side over all these months. Although the year "has not been easy", he stressed that "many points of agreement" had been reached. Finally, he thanked all the health professionals, "from the specialist doctor and caretaker to the security guards to the person who does the cleaning work". He admitted that the "most difficult" moment as a minister was when he restricted access of relatives to accompany gravely ill patients.
Turning the page and with his eyes on the 14th February elections, Salvador Illa said that in this new stage "he will give his best efforts to defeat" the virus as he has done so far, and he guaranteed that "we will be able to eradicate it”. He stated that it was "an honour" to serve as a minister and that he was leaving Madrid "with great sorrow" and leaving many friends there. “I feel like a public servant. I will always be where I think I can be most useful", he concluded.