Spanish prime minister discusses recovery plan

Spain has been allocated 140 billion euros ($166.84 billion) from the European Union's coronavirus recovery fund, roughly divided in half between grants and repayable loans. Using that aid, the plan outlined Monday by Sánchez will aim to address inequality deepened by the virus, which has claimed at least 29,000 victims in Spain.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez says the Spanish government is working on a post-pandemic recovery plan that aims to bring sustained annual economic growth higher than 2%. Spain has been allocated 140 billion euros ($166.84 billion) from the European Union's coronavirus recovery fund, roughly divided in half between grants and repayable loans.

Using that aid, the plan outlined Monday by Sánchez will aim to address inequality deepened by the virus, which has claimed at least 29,000 victims in Spain. He says the plan will try to accomplish structural reforms in digitalization, equal conditions for women, and fight climate change, as well as addressing regional and social differences to establish a sustained growth during the next decade.

Speaking to business leaders and representatives from civil society, he also called for unity, in what has been seen as a call for opposition parties to back his left wing coalition's new national budget when it's presented to parliament later this year. Spain, with nearly 440,000 infections of the new virus since February, has become western Europe's hardest-hit country by a new surging wave of fresh outbreaks.