Sánchez appoints Óscar Puente as new Minister of Transport and Isabel Rodríguez as Minister of Housing

The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has appointed Óscar Puente, former mayor of Valladolid and current deputy in Congress, as the new Minister of Transport. In addition, he maintains the current Government spokesperson and Minister of Territorial Policy, Isabel Rodríguez, in the Council of Ministers, who now holds a new portfolio: Housing and Urban Agenda.

As sources from Moncloa have confirmed to Europa Press, this will be the new distribution of the department that Raquel Sánchez occupied until now. Puente will be in charge of Transportation and Rodríguez will remain with the Ministry of Housing, a matter that the socialists have set as one of the priorities of the legislature.

The Ministry of Transport and Mobility was born just four years ago, in January 2020, after the formation of the coalition Government between PSOE and Unidas Podemos, taking over from the defunct Ministry of Public Works.

In this period, the portfolio has had only two ministers in its direction, the first José Luis Ábalos, who was already Minister of Public Works since the 2018 motion of censure and who managed mobility in the middle of the pandemic, and later Raquel Sánchez, who He took over from Ábalos in July 2021.

Throughout this period, the field of transportation has experienced moments such as the almost complete prohibition of mobility due to the health crisis, taxi driver strikes and trucker strikes that have reconfigured these two sectors, the entry of competition in high speed , the free trains and buses, the controversy over the Cantabria trains that brought down the presidents of Renfe and Adif, the opening of new lines to Galicia, Murcia, Extremadura or Asturias, or the design of tolls on all the highways that ultimately they will not come into force.

ANNOUNCED COMMITMENTS

For the new legislature, Óscar Puente will have to face the transfer of the Cercanías de Catalunya (Rodalies) trains to the Generalitat, one of the biggest political challenges of the legislature, as it includes not only the operation of the trains but also the infrastructure.

Likewise, the Government will maintain discounts for transport for the entire year, although in the case of regional transport it is subject to the communities also subsidizing a part. After the first year, this policy will be maintained for minors, young people and the unemployed.

Another commitment will be to promote the reduction of domestic flights on routes where there are rail alternatives of less than two and a half hours, except in cases of connection with airports that link with international routes.

It will also reopen the line that connects Zaragoza with Pau (France) through Canfranc, it will promote the Mediterranean and Atlantic Corridors, it will expand and modernize the Valencian Cercanías network and the Alicante-Murcia line, connecting the Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández Airport with both cities. .

In Galicia, the implementation of a Cercanías network between A Coruña and Ferrol and between Vigo and Pontevedra will be studied, and there will be discounts on the region's highways. In the Canary Islands, the 75% bonus on air and sea transport for residents will be consolidated, according to the agreements reached between the PSOE and the different parties ahead of the investiture.

ENABLE MORE PUBLIC HOUSING AND INDEX FOR STRESSED AREAS

For her part, Isabel Rodríguez will be in charge of the Ministry of Housing, which is once again recovered as a stand-alone department and not added to another ministry. As the main challenges, the new minister will have to develop the macro-operation of putting a total of 183,000 affordable rental homes on the market, which includes Sareb homes, new developments and houses on land owned by the Ministry of Defense.

It must also develop the new Housing Law, which came into force at the end of the last legislature, and, specifically, the commitment is to immediately define the reference price index, which allows identifying the municipalities and districts that are considered stressed areas. , to promote the implementation of the regulation of rental prices.

Likewise, the Rental Bonus will be increased, which currently consists of an aid of 250 euros for young people under 35 years of age, and the regulation of tourist accommodation in stressed market areas will also be reviewed. A strategic plan will also be approved to promote rural housing in areas of demographic challenge.

In addition, a national program of aid and subsidies will be enabled to improve the accessibility, habitability and energy efficiency of homes. The priority will be the rehabilitation of homes for energy efficiency, with the objective of reaching 500,000 homes.

REMOVE OBSTACLES TO THE PORTABILITY OF MORTGAGES BETWEEN ENTITIES

It is also intended to adopt, as a result of dialogue with financial entities, improvements applicable to mortgage loans, aimed at facilitating the early repayment of credits, the restructuring of mortgage loans or the request for dation in payment.

The Government wants to make the mortgage market more competitive by eliminating obstacles to the real portability of mortgages between entities, reinforcing both financial and competition supervision and promoting transparency.