Defense will not put obstacles in the way of the factory project that the Chinese giant SAIC Motor plans to install in the Port of Ferrol. The minister Margarita Robles called this morning the president of the Xunta, Alfonso Rueda, to inform him that the report that her department must issue within the processing will be “favorable,” although it may include the “operational conditions” it considers necessary to guarantee the security of the nearby military facilities, according to sources from the regional government confirmed to EL MUNDO.
What the Xunta still does not know is the exact status of those reports and what specific measures might end up being required. Even so, Robles’ message is a considerable relief after, as this newspaper revealed earlier this week, the existing reservations in the Ministry of Defense and the National Intelligence Center (CNI) about the location chosen by SAIC became known.
The concern focuses on the entry of a Chinese public capital company in an enclave located just a few kilometers from the military arsenal of Ferrol and the shipyards of Navantia. Some security officials even considered that proximity “a threat,” understanding that it could facilitate China – which the European Union defines as a “systemic rival” – an almost daily knowledge of the movements of the Spanish frigates and sensitive military technologies.
The clarification comes barely 24 hours after the Government and Xunta closed ranks in defense of the operation. The Minister for Digital Transformation, Óscar López, described the factory as an “important” investment for Spain and was convinced that it will go ahead. Rueda, for his part, reproached that the criticisms surfaced now, after months of joint work with the central government and recalled that “at no time was there any talk of any lack of security or any military risk“.
