The president of the CEOE, Antonio Garamendidescribed this Thursday as a “new occurrence” the extension of leave for death up to 10 days and new leave for palliative care announced by the second vice president and Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díazwhile ironically asking “a permit to rest for a while from the Ministry of Labor’s announcements.”
This is how Garamendi spoke during the presentation ‘Economic priorities of the Spanish company in the current economic context’ that he gave within the framework of the XII Economic Forum of Castilla-La Mancha that the Family Business Association of Castilla-La Mancha organizes in Toledo.
“I would ask for permission to rest for 10 days from the minister’s announcements. It’s exhausting. Every day is a new occurrence. Now let’s see what it means,” the president of the employers’ association has charged against this measure.
He has also regretted that the minister, as Garamendi has said, has assured that “small businesses and SMEs are getting rich,” which is why he has invited Díaz “for many of them to come and see him.” “It seems that we are the great enemies of the country when I understand that we are the solution.”
Do you know what is exhausting, Mr. Garamendi?
It is exhausting that the president of the employers’ association systematically dedicates himself to going against the workers of this country.
And if. For us, caring for people comes before any economic interest. pic.twitter.com/eijXujb1Js
— Lara Hernández (@larahache) October 9, 2025
That said, he has pointed out that he would love for there to be elections because it is the only day that “we are not in an electoral campaign.” “We are not in an electoral campaign”added Garamendi, who stressed that the measures announced by the minister are not measures that have been studied or communicated to the CEOE.
Furthermore, he stressed that for any regulation, “which they do not do”, an economic report must be prepared. “Has it been studied what this means economically? No. This is because I feel like it, this is because it suits me very well, It looks ‘cool’ today, the morning I had breakfast and I let it go. “Where is the economic report?” he asked Díaz.
“Contempt for social dialogue”
Later, when asked by the media about this matter, he stressed that they are going to “see what Díaz is proposing” now, although he has insisted that this is “not the way”in reference to how the minister is doing things, considering that she wants to give “messages every day” because “it seems like she needs to be on TV.”
Questioning whether there will be any more measures after those announced that They look “very good and that’s it”has regretted having found out in the press about announcements of this type “without consulting”, which is “a total disregard for social dialogue.” “They are not the forms”, Garamendi has emphasized.
Regarding the statements by the Minister of Labor asking employers to “be receptive” to these measures, she considered that first they are going to see what she sends them because they do not know them “very well.” “It is not the way and I honestly do not think the minister is up to the task in this case”he lamented.
The worlds of Yupi
Returning to his intervention in this economic forum, the president of the CEOE regretted that While businessmen live “reality”, some members of the Government live in “the worlds of Yupi”. “Businessmen live a reality, we want to work, we want to move forward with issues, but some are not realizing that measures are being taken counterclockwise to what would have to be done for this to work,” he stressed.
In this way, he has criticized that “some people in the Government” see companies “as enemies” instead of seeing them as “gentlemen who are here to create and help.” That said, Garamendi has attacked the Government’s measures that are, in his opinion, “a kind of sentence where the businessman is bad and selfish”when they are people who “risk their money and often lose.”
That is why he has charged against the “populist measures” of the Minister of Labor who only seek to “get four votes” and, however, he has defended, “they are deteriorating Spanish society.”
“Totally undemocratic” regulations
In line with this, the president of the CEOE has continued to charge against the Government and its “totally undemocratic regulations” in many cases. “It turns out that some ministry likes Parliament until Parliament agrees with it,” he said.
Words that have led him again to criticize the Minister of Labor for her “totally undemocratic” advertisements. “They want to bypass the Workers’ Statute” and “they confuse the base salary with the minimum wage”, in such a way that “what they are going to do is generate even more confusion in the hiring of companies.”
Once again, he has criticized the announcement made today by the minister to extend the leave for death, an announcement made by “electoral or electoral interests”, Garamendi has assured that what he seeks is to “undermine” what social dialogue or collective bargaining is. In such a way, he pointed out, that “we could end up finding that there is no collective bargaining or that it is a regulated approach, like energy,” he predicted.
