Galicia has received responsibility for managing work permits for foreign nationals and 40 non-commercial aerodromes and heliports, according to details outlined by Spain's territorial policy minister Ángel Víctor Torres. The Xunta has also listed a formal transfer covering initial work authorizations for foreign nationals and aerodromes not classified as being of general interest. President Alfonso Rueda took part in the transfer event. The transfers bring the number of competencies passed to the region during this legislature to three, including management of the coastline.
That record formed part of Torres's defence of the transfer process in an interview with SER Galicia on Sunday. He said nearly 60 transfers had been made to Spain's autonomous communities and argued that shared governance could improve public services while recognising territorial differences.
On the AP-9, Torres rejected the suggestion that negotiations with the Xunta had stalled. He said both sides agreed on the substance, while differences concerned economic issues and other resources. In the interview, Torres said he believed an agreement could be reached in the coming months while he remained minister, including in a caretaker capacity. That was his assessment of the negotiations at the time. Talks over the motorway are separate from the transfers covering work authorizations and aerodromes not classified as being of general interest.
Torres also said Xunta president Alfonso Rueda had unequivocally defended self-government and that negotiations with his government had produced results. Asked to compare Rueda with his predecessor Alberto Núñez Feijóo, he said talks with Rueda's administration had ended well.
On the auction of property belonging to the Franco family, Torres said the government had done everything it could within the law to prevent it. He was recounting the position given by the government representative at the Ministry of Democratic Memory.
Addressing Ceuta, he disputed claims that the city was far from normality. He said 15,000 people who had been there between August and October were no longer there, and that the camps were beginning to be dismantled. Torres acknowledged that the government had not achieved excellence in its response to migration and criticised unnamed people for obstructing its efforts.
