Pedro Sánchez says goodbye to Solbes in his funeral chapel and highlights his exemplary nature, rigor and commitment to Spain and Europe

MADRID, 18 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has attended this Saturday afternoon the burning chapel of the former Vice President of the Government and Minister of Economy and Finance Pedro Solbes and has highlighted his exemplary character, his rigor and his commitment to Spain and Europe as well as his work in public service.

"He has been a person who, throughout the years that he has exercised public service, has had an absolutely faultless performance," Sánchez said in statements to the media at the door of the La Paz funeral home in Alcobendas (Madrid).

He also recalled that Solbes was Commissioner for Economic Affairs in the European Union, as well as Minister of Agriculture and Economy. "He was a person committed to Europe who was well aware that the future of Spain inevitably passed through Europe." "He is leaving a great politician and a great public servant," said Sánchez.

Along the same lines, the First Vice President and Minister of Social Economy and Digital Transformation, Nadia Calviño, who arrived minutes before the president at the funeral home and who referred to Solbes as a "statesman" and a "figure key" in Spain's introduction to the euro.

Likewise, visibly affected, he has indicated his role as minister and vice president of the Government of Spain "always honest, loyal and devoted to the general interest" with a "progressive, committed to reducing inequalities and social advancement" vision.

"Personally, I am very sad for this loss. He was a very dear friend and a very important person in this country," Calviño said.

The former president of the Government, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, has also approached the funeral chapel, who has referred to Solbes as a "great public servant" who has one of the "longest trajectories in public political work, always with seriousness, rigor and honesty. He was a convinced Europeanist who contributed a lot to the process of integrating Spain into the European Union", he highlighted.