Sánchez Llibre revalidates the presidency of Foment without rivals

BarcelonaWithout surprises, as everything at Foment del Treball. The president of the large Catalan employers' association, Josep Sánchez Llibre, has revalidated his position without opposition, as he did in the other two electoral contests, in 2018 and 2022. Amidst a long ovation from the noble hall of the business association's headquarters, on Via Laietana; and driven by Vangelis's scores in Chariots of Fire, Sánchez Llibre has accepted the assignment in the presence of the top brass of the Catalan private sector. The new stage, the third, will last until 2030. Among others, present in the front row were the president of the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE), the main Spanish employers' association, Antonio Garamendi; the president of Banco Sabadell, Josep Oliu; or the former Spanish Minister of Employment and Social Security and president of the CEOE Foundation, Fátima Báñez.

Sánchez Llibre will begin on Tuesday a term that he has described as "continuity-based", based on 290 supports from individual and collective members of the entity. The first task he has set for himself is to "deepen the relationship with the Generalitat". Firstly, to unblock the budgets and break the streak of extensions, because "a country without public accounts cannot function". In this regard, he has shown optimism that the Party of the Socialists of Catalonia and Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya "will reach an agreement" on the negotiations of the recent days. Nevertheless, he has insisted on warning against an "increase in fiscal pressure on companies and families in Catalonia" through the budget.

"Ten Commandments" for business

It has also been marked as a horizon to cover the gap in Catalan infrastructure; and to recover the historic deficit that the country suffers from,

It has also set as a goal to bridge the gap in Catalan infrastructures; and to recover the historical deficit that the country suffers from, close to 50,000 million euros, according to data from the employers' association itself. And it has recovered the energy line that Foment has taken since the general blackout of April 2025, in defense of nuclear power plants that, in their opinion, "must extend their useful life", both in the Principality and in the State as a whole.

Looking ahead to the coming years, Sánchez Llibre has taken up the banner of the "fight against absenteeism" that the rest of the country's employers' world is also facing. He has described the phenomenon as a "silent emergency", due to the "brake on productivity" it represents for companies in all sectors. The success, according to Foment's leader, would be to reduce the current level, from 5.5%, to 4%, the rate of labor absences recorded in 2019. "Achieving this milestone would mean reducing by 16,000 million euros" the subsidies for sick workers, divided between companies and Social Security.

Against "radicalism"

The uncontested victory of Sánchez Llibre has been accentuated by the interventions of the state's business leaders. The president of the CEOE, Antonio Garamendi, has lamented the "sectarianism and radicality" that he attributes to the Spanish government, especially in matters related to labor regulation. "Instead of letting us work, they impose a monologue on us that presents us with given agreements. And that is when we have to distance ourselves," he argued.

In line with Foment's demands, the leader of Spanish employers has reproached the "demonization" of employers, in a social environment where "it seems that it is forbidden to make a profit." As an example, he criticized the taxes on banks and energy companies, which have been in place since the beginning of the war in Ukraine: "What a great idea to tax banks and electricity companies when the Energy and Climate Plan estimates that 300 billion euros must be invested." Against this radicality, Garamendi has called for "unity" among business organizations, which seems to have prevailed in the last four years, with the alternative candidacy for the CEOE of the Catalan Virgínia Guinda already in the rearview mirror. "Unity makes us invincible. And that's even though we don't have the BOE," concluded the president of the Spanish employers' association.