The artillery fire against Ferrovial from the Government does not cease. The president himself Pedro Sánchez, accused the president of Ferrovial, Rafael del Pino, of not being a “businessman committed to his country” for deciding to transfer the headquarters of this company to the Netherlands. “Entrepreneurs have an enormous responsibility in the society in which they are born and carry out all their actions and I believe that in Spain there are extraordinarily positive examples of large businessmen committed to their country,” he stated in an appearance before journalists in Copenhagen for, to then lash out directly at the manager: “Of course, after this announcement, I believe that this is not the case with Mr. Del Pino”.
At the insistence of the journalists at the press conference that he offered together with the Danish Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, on the occasion of the tour that he is carrying out prior to Spain assuming the European presidency on July 1, the president of the Executive warned again that It will be analyzed whether the decision of the Ferrovial leadership “corresponds to the law”. After this statement, he reflected on the important role that he believes businessmen play in society, something that “we have recognized from the Government in very difficult times.” Among them, he has cited the consequences caused by the coronavirus pandemic and later with the war in Ukraine and has recalled decisions that have been adopted, such as ERTEs and ICO credits, which “has allowed them to overcome these complicated situations.”
The president thus joins several of his ministers, who have continued with the “hunt” throughout the day. The holder of Social Security, José Luis Escrivá, charged against the “short-term motivation” of the company to pay less than in Spain. The minister indicated that this situation reminds him of when financial institutions, before the 2008 crisis, “took a lot of risk because there was that greed to have bigger bonuses and bigger benefits.” In the case of Ferrovial, directly accused its managers of having “a short-term motivation for tax arbitration, which is usually counterproductive in a medium-term perspective,” he warned.
Escrivá has followed the same line of intensifying the attacks marked out from the Moncloa. Government sources insisted that there are “personal interests” in this decision and considered that the argument for seeking more legal certainty is “a mere excuse”, which they described as “ridiculous”. They point out that behind this decision “there would only be the search to pay less taxes”, but not only as a company, but also personally from its owners and shareholders, because this lower tax burden is the only thing they admit that the Netherlands is ahead from Spain. From the Government they warned again that it will analyze the “details” and the “implications of the operation. the vice president Nadia Calviño assured on Onda Cero that she will “study the arguments that, with the transfer, the company will also be able to list in the United States”something that it could not do with its headquarters in Spain.
In this offensive maelstrom, he highlighted the dialectical violence of We can, who has once again branded the Del Pino family, the company’s largest shareholder, as “anti-Spanish” and “tax evaders.” Demand that they return public aid and subsidies obtained during the 10 years prior to the decision to leave the country, paying default interest. To do this, it will register a bill in Congress in the coming days. A measure that Escrivá already ruled out. “Out of place”.
Ferrovial told the CNMV today that its decision to leave its headquarters in Spain is justified by the improved financing and because the “Netherlands risk premium is more stable”.