The European Green Party congratulates Ernest Urtasun, member of the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament, on becoming Spain's Minister for Culture. With this outspoken Green politician joining the Spanish government, the Green family is represented again at the government level in Southern Europe.
Ernest Urtasun is an economist and diplomat, and member of the Greens/EFA political group in the European Parliament since 2014. After the 2019 EU elections, he became vice-president of the Greens/EFA. He is also the spokesperson of Sumar, the alliance of progressives and Greens in Spain.
The entry of Ernest Urtasun together with the progressive and green coalition agreement make the Sanchez III government the most Green Spanish government ever.
Six EU governments now have Green ministers: Austria, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, and most recently Latvia and Spain.
Three Spanish political parties are members of the European Green Party: Esquerra Verda since 2006, Verdes Equo since 2016 and Catalunya En Comú since 2021. They all participated in the Sumar coalition, who campaigned on a platform of green and social policies, fending off the right (Partido Popular/EPP) and far right Vox. In the election, Sumar received 3,044,996 votes and won 38 seats in the Congress - including Green MP Júlia Boada Danés who had previously served as a staff member at the European Green Party in Brussels.
Sumar reached an agreement with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's PSOE on 24 October. 95% of Catalunya En Comú members and 91% of Verdes Equo members voted in favour of the new government programme. On Thursday, the Sumar group in Congress fully supported the Sanchez III Government.
European Green Party co-chairs Mélanie Vogel and Thomas Waitz comment: "With this participation in the Spanish government, the Green family is again present on government level in the South of Europe. This marks a major milestone for the European Green Party and its Spanish member parties. In July, Spanish citizens said “¡No pasarán!” to the right and far right. And four months later the most progressive and Green Spanish government to date has begun, with Ernest Urtasun as our representative we are very proud of. This is a great inspiration for Europe and the upcoming European elections”.
