Spain PM, King Philip VI laud post-pandemic recovery amid vaccination drive
Palma, Spain, Aug 3 (EFE).- Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Tuesday lauded Spain’s post-pandemic recovery, considering its economy was amongst the hardest hit in Europe by the economic backlash of the Covid-19 pandemic.
After a traditional early-August meeting with King Philip VI in the Marivent Palace in Palma de Mallorca, Sanchez noted the contrast in situations between last year, a time of “resistance,” and Spain’s current condition, as its economy takes off and its vaccination campaign leads European Union rates, according to the University of Oxford.
“One year ago Spain was resisting Covid, and today the prospects are quite different,” said Sanchez. “We cannot lower our guards and need to remain cautious, but we are in a completely different place.”
Sanchez referred to the country’s GDP, which grew 2.8% during the second quarter of the year, whereas it had plummeted by 20% during the same period last year.
“Spain is heading straight towards economic recovery, which will be significant throughout 2021 and 2022,” he said, reminding that unemployment registered a sharp fall in July and praising the EU’s recovery fund.
Some 57.61% of the Spanish population is fully vaccinated against Covid-19, making it the EU member state with the highest proportion of people having received the full course of the vaccine, according to data from the University of Oxford
It is ahead of Belgium, which has fully vaccinated 57.21% of its population, and Germany (52.58%), as well as the United Kingdom (56.49%).
Bulgaria and Romania are the furthest behind, with 14.4% and 25.2% of residents fully vaccinated. EFE
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