The Ministry of Industry gave a step forward to get involved in the reindustrialization of the city of Ferrol area, after announcing that a representative of the central government will join officially the Comprehensive Plan designed by Xunta of Galicia for relaunching the economy from Ferrol, Eume, and Ortegal during the four-year period, 2007-2011. According to persons responsible for the Ferrol Plan Driving Force Association (AIPF, according to its English abbreviation), this involvement will translate in the presence of the Industrial Development General Director, Jesús Candil, at the monitoring commissions of the project that the Xunta and the public body celebrate every month at the Igape headquarters, in the Galician capital city, Santiago. The Ferrol Association was born in 2005 after the last naval restructuring at the shipyards, which early retired 1,405 workers from the Ferrol and Fene shipyards. Employers and unions agreed, then, on building a pressure group to demand from the public administrations an economic platform to overcome the historic dependence of the naval sector on the government and overcome the consecutive industrial crisis.

The Minister of Industry, Joan Clos took the baton launched by his predecessor, José Montilla and the Vicepresident of the Government, María Teresa Fernández de la Vega, in May 2005 they promised support from the central government to revive the area. The commitment materialized with two ministerial orders in 2006 and 2007 that set up subventions and credit lines for attracting companies to the area.

Joan Clos extended the commitment from Montilla by getting directly involved his Ministry. He did not point out investments but assumed the commitment of interceding before the Minister of Development, Magdalena Álvarez, to speed up the arrival of the train to the offshore port of Ferrol


Pérez Touriño declared that the Ferrol area has a “good opportunity” to re-emerge from its economical debacle supported by the three Administrations: Government, Xunta, and Ferrol City Council. Pérez Touriño considers the plan is “working well” for reaching its goal: create employment and diversify the business network of the area. The Ferrol association demands the settlement of a budget and the compliance of the deadlines planned by the Xunta. The president of the association, Xulio Abelleira, reminded that Ferrol “has broken the record of failed plans”. (Soruce: El País)