As incredible as it may seem, the extended budgets of 2018, prepared by Minister Montoro under the presidency of M. Rajoy, are still in force in our country. Until now, parliamentary arithmetic and the Popular Party's refusal to exercise its political and institutional responsibilities have prevented us from having new ones, but, if it was already very difficult to develop progressive policies with conservative budgets, these are completely useless to combat the health, economic and social crisis in which we are immersed.
This is the situation we are in, extraordinary and very serious, although there are still some who trust their political and personal future to the failure of the negotiations undertaken by the Government so that our country has new budgets in 2021. Let's not fool ourselves: if those of 2018 were extended sine die, we would not be able to protect the pressing needs of families and businesses and we would be doomed to new elections. That catastrophic and suffering scenario is what the cardboard patriots, the right-wing extremists and the folkloric nationalists would like in order to try to reach power.
But that is not going to happen. Let the miserable ones who want the worse the better get that out of their heads, because the alliance between the PSOE and Unidas Podemos will do everything in its power to agree on new budgets with all the parliamentary groups that accept inclusive, supportive and fair public accounts to get out of the pandemic and rebuild the economy. And we will do it preferably with the investiture bloc and with those political groups that know how to live up to what our country demands at this time.
Some people are entertained by calling variable geometry what is nothing more than the most exceptional situation experienced in Spain since the civil war and that, for that very reason, requires generosity, vision and leaving aside partisan interests for the sake of unity and thinking exclusively about the well-being of the population. Our strategy is very simple and consists of achieving a parliamentary majority capable of approving the spending policies that are needed to tackle poverty, suffering and economic ruin. That is all.
The Government of Pedro Sánchez only thinks of budgets that fulfill the mission of alleviating the economic and social consequences caused by the health crisis and laying the foundations to overcome this situation as soon as possible. Therefore, the new budgets must have a strong social dimension in order to address all the measures that comprise the so-called social shield, such as the minimum living income or the funds allocated to temporary employment regulation files.
But we are not alone. To overcome this adversity we also have the reconstruction fund agreed by the European Union, of which Spain will have 140,000 million —72,000 million in transfers— to strengthen the health system and industry, digitization, the transition to a sustainable economy, the commitment to R&D&I and new technologies, as well as to support SMEs and sectors affected by the current crisis such as tourism and hospitality and the preservation of the environment.
I have full confidence that we will be able to bring together a sufficient majority to carry out the General State Budgets for 2021 and that the new public accounts will consolidate a competitive and innovative economy and a balanced, inclusive and sustainable economic growth model that allows the creation of decent employment, the protection of vulnerable groups and the recovery of the productive fabric with the idea of leaving no one behind.
Fco. Manuel Fajardo Palarea, PSOE senator for Lanzarote and La Graciosa.