Juan Manuel Moreno has changed half of his cabinet halfway through the legislature. The Andalusian president has announced a full-blown government crisis, replacing the regional government spokesperson and the heads of Health and Education Development, with four independents, and an expansion of the government structure, which goes from 13 to 14 ministries.
The new spokesperson will also be the Minister of Finance, Carolina España, a veteran leader of the PP in Malaga – very close to Moreno – who represents a tougher and more party-oriented profile for the next two years, until the 2026 elections.
But the most significant change is that of Catalina García, head of the Health and Consumer Affairs portfolio, which was hotly contested by the opposition in Parliament and by health unions in the streets, with constant protests and a strike.
Over the past two years, García has been the target of the harshest criticism from the opposition to the Moreno government, repeatedly demanding his resignation in parliament for the “disastrous” management of the long waiting lists, the lack of harmony with the sector’s unions and the controversial contracts with private clinics to refer patients who have exceeded the legal deadline to undergo surgery in public clinics.
Moreno marks a turning point by removing her from Health, but leaving her within the Executive. From now on, García will be in charge of the Environment department. Her position in the Ministry of Health will be occupied by a new face, Rosario Hernández Soto, a pediatrician by profession, and managing director of the Aljarafe-Sevilla Norte Primary Care Health District.
The president of the Junta has chosen a female doctor to deal with the discontent of the doctors, who received his predecessor – a nurse by profession – with a vengeance, and he is also betting on someone who knows first-hand the collapse that health centres are going through due to the lack of staff.
The Government is expanding with a new department that is born from separating the area of Culture and Sport from Tourism. The current Minister of Educational Development, Patricia del Pozo, is leaving this role to return to the cultural portfolio, which she was in charge of in the last legislature. These functions were now in the hands of Minister Arturo Bernal, who has been highly criticized for the little weight he has given to Culture, in favor of promoting tourism.
Bernal will continue to be the Minister of Tourism in a new portfolio that incorporates competences in Foreign Affairs, and which will be called “Andalucía Global”.
Patricia del Pozo’s departure from the Department of Educational Development and Vocational Training is also preceded by criticism from teachers’ unions, who accuse her of inaction, of not negotiating anything with them, and of “hacking” staff data to “sell that there are more teachers than there really are.” Her position will be taken by a new addition: Carmen Castilla, an Education Inspection official, who was already deputy minister of Education in the previous term, when she depended on Ciudadanos.
The former Minister of the Environment and spokesperson for the Junta, Ramón Fernández Pacheco, has lost many of the powers he held until yesterday. Two months ago, he temporarily took over the functions of the former Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development, Carmen Crespo, who left the cabinet to head the PP list for the European elections.
From now on, he will continue with these policies, but he will give up the Environment Department – where he had to fight in the litigation against the central government over the controversial law to expand irrigation near Doñana – and the spokesperson position. Fernández Pacheco was the visible face of Moreno’s Executive, every Tuesday he gave an account of the meetings of the Government Council, and although his speech was harsh, his tone was always conciliatory. Out of focus, he was pointed out as one of the possible successors of the Andalusian president.
Eight women, six men
The new Moreno government has eight women – including the spokesperson – and six men. The rest of the ministries remain as they were and their heads will continue to lead: Rocío Díaz (Development and Housing); Rocío Blanco (Employment); José Carlos Gómez Villamandos (Universities); José Antonio Nieto (Justice); Dolores López (Social Policy, Families and Equality); Economy and Industry (Jorge Paradela) and Presidency (Antonio Sanz).
Seven months ago, Moreno announced his intention to reshuffle the Executive, but he warned then that the changes he had in mind were specific, that he was seeking to improve the functioning of the cabinet by regrouping work areas and unloading macro-ministries.
At that time he did not speak of replacing his advisers or of bringing in new faces to boost the second part of the legislature. During all this time he has maintained a scrupulous silence, but until a few days ago he continued to warn, in public, that there would not be a government crisis as such, but rather “slight adjustments”.
The Andalusian Executive has announced that Moreno will appear, without questions, at 2:30 p.m., which did not begin until three in the afternoon. The president explained that his government was “functioning in an acceptable manner, trying to ensure that there are more successes than errors.” “There are,” he concluded. In these words, we can deduce the change of criteria, from those “slight adjustments” and a “mere transfer of powers,” to a reform of departments, replacement of people and new incorporations.
Moreno has spoken of “updating” his Government, stressing that he wanted to make the changes before the summer so that the new team can start to work in September “to give their all”. The new ministers and the veterans who change portfolios or hold a renamed department will take office in the Government Council on Tuesday. The changes will have to go through the Andalusian Parliament – already in September – to change the name of the legislative commissions and adapt them to the new structure of the Executive.
Three cabinet changes in two years
This Monday, prior to the last Government Council meeting before going on holiday, the Andalusian president has been calling the councillors one by one to his office in the San Telmo Palace, the headquarters of the Junta. Moreno had asked them weeks ago for an assessment of the work they had done, the completed projects, the projects in process… documentation that he used in his appearance at the general policy debate held in Parliament a month ago.
This is the third reform Moreno has made to his government since the legislature began in 2022. The two previous ones were also specific changes, with councillors leaving the Junta to head the PP electoral lists.
The head of Public Works, Marifrán Carazo, resigned in March 2023 to become the mayor of Granada, after her victory in the municipal elections that year – she was replaced by Rocío Díaz in a Government Council held in the Alhambra, which served Moreno to promote the candidacy; and in May 2024, the former Minister of Agriculture, Carmen Crespo, left office to head the PP list in the European elections. Her position, this time, was temporarily assumed by the spokesperson of the Junta and head of the Environment, Ramón Fernández Pacheco.
Source: www.eldiario.es
