Pedro Solbes

Pedro Solbes.

Pedro Solbes Mira (born August 31, 1942 in Alicante ) is a Spanish politician . From 2004 to 2009 he was Minister of Economics and Finance and second deputy head of government in the Zapatero cabinet . Solbes is non-party, but is close to the PSOE .

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Pedro Solbes studied political science in Alicante and law at the Complutense University of Madrid .

Pedro Solbes was a member of the Spanish negotiating group for Spain's accession to the European Community . In 1985 he became Minister of State for European Affairs in the Felipe González government , Minister of Agriculture in 1991 and Minister of Economics in 1993 (until 1996).

In September 1999 he joined the European Commission as the Spanish representative under Romano Prodi as Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs . After the Spanish parliamentary elections on March 14, 2004, Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero appointed him second deputy head of government and "super minister" for economy and finance.

Despite some political disagreements between the more liberal Solbes and Zapatero's economic advisor Miguel Sebastián , who represents more Keynesian positions, Solbes agreed to another term at Zapatero's request after the PSOE won again in the Spanish parliamentary elections in 2008 . During the election campaign, he was noticed by a television duel, in which, on February 21, 2008 , polls showed that he clearly defeated the conservative PP's shadow economy minister , Manuel Pizarro Moreno . After the elections, Solbes was confirmed in office, but had to accept that Miguel Sebastián was appointed as the new Minister of Industry and Trade.

In the months that followed, Spain was hit hard by the international financial and economic crisis. Although the Spanish banking system itself proved to be very solid, the unemployment rate skyrocketed due to the collapsing housing market. The Spanish government reacted to this with a far-reaching economic stimulus program by international standards, but the Spanish public accused it of inaction. Solbes in particular, who initially publicly assessed the extent of the crisis as rather minor and later warned early on of excessive new debt, came under fire. On April 7, 2009, Zapatero therefore announced that he would be replaced by Elena Salgado , who had previously headed the Ministry of Public Administration, as part of an extensive cabinet reshuffle .

Solbes was accused of having contributed to the bursting of the Spanish real estate bubble in 2008 through his tax policy: He had given real estate loans for lower income groups tax breaks, so that the total loan volume quadrupled within three years.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Solbes vence al fichacje estrella de Rajoy ( El País , February 22, 2008)
2. ↑ Thomas Urban , Hazardous Infectious , sz.de , June 8, 2017.