The government paid 1.15m to promote Spanish meat before Garzón's crisis

Just a month before Alberto Garzón's controversial statements about Spanish meat came to light, the government, through the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, awarded a contract to an advertising company to design a promotion campaignof national products.Under the name of 'Food of Spain', the department led by Luis Planas invested 1.15 million euros in the project, which focused on the dissemination of the benefits of consuming national products, including meat, and projecting its image onthe international scope.

This is the controversy that has marked the beginning of 2022.Alberto Garzón's interview in The Guardian has become a throwing weapon in the parliamentary arch, since the opposition accuses the minister of wearing up the image of Spanish livestock abroad and, therefore, putting the exports of the sector at risk.

A crisis in which, for the moment, the Government assumes a discreet position, with Pedro Sánchez defending the quality of national meat but avoiding pronouncing whether Garzón's position is personal or represents that of the Executive.The environment of the Consumer Holder -and figures such as the former Director of United Podeknown as 'macrogranjas'.

A crisis - the interpellations of Moncloa are constant about the immediate future of Garzón - that directly splashed the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food;A portfolio that, in addition to the management of national resources, has as a flag the promotion of the products generated in Spain.There the campaign 'Food of Spain' comes into play, already active through a web page, which aims to transfer the benefits of national agrarian, fishing and livestock products.And the award of his latest contract to project that image took place on November 24, 2021, one month before The Guardian published the interview - he was on December 26 - with Alberto Garzón.

Contract

The purpose of the contract is "to develop and execute a plan of advertising campaigns" of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food of "National and International Condition" within the framework of the 'Food of Spain' plan, focused on "transmitting the benefits of consuming productsAgrarian and fishing, affecting the quality and variety of our foods "and" incentivize proximity consumption, thus recognizing the value of the work of farmers, farmers and fishermen, who represent the origin of our foods ".

The advertising campaign, in which the department of Luis Planas has invested 1.15 million euros (VAT included) will highlight the role of the "young people present in the agri -food and fishing sector", whether farmers, farmers, fishermen or chefs: "These young people collect the witness and relaunch the activity of the people who have been working in these sectors, and who treasure an important background that must be considered," says the Technical Prescriptions of the tender, to which Vozpopuli has had access.The contract execution process also covers the year 2022.

The contract award process has prolonged over time.In April 2021 the previous announcement was published, with the conditions that companies interested in the project should assume.In June several rectifications of the bidding and specifications were collected, giving one more week of margin for the opening of the envelopes with the offers received.In October, the Project Awarding Criteria report was hung on the public sector contracting platform, while the definitive award was not published until November 24.

The advertising campaign had to have a spot proposal of thirty seconds in video format, a twenty -second radio wedge, an approach for graphic media, an internet banner and a "transmedia" strategy, linking the campaign with othersareas such as culture or gastronomy.All this with projection inside and outside our borders: "The authorization of use will be exclusive, both nationally and internationally," says Luis Planas Ministry.The commission fell to a temporary union of companies (UTE) between Ivandrago S.A.and Brandelegous communication s.L.

Garzón's controversy

A communication and budget effort that closed shortly before statements that have run like gunpowder, have marked the political agenda and have focused the discourse on the quality of Spanish meat, with a repercussion against which a campaign can hardly competeof advertising in the terms proposed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

Associations and unions of the sector ask Minister Luis Planas to leave in his defense and dissipates all doubt about Spanish products, but at the moment he has chosen to maintain silence.Socialist barons, such as Javier Lambán, have directly requested the resignation of the consumer minister.

The crisis has broken into a crucial moment for the parliamentary arch, taking into account the imminence of the elections that will be held in Castilla y León - with an important weight of the livestock sector for the regional economy - which, in turn, supposes the gunoutput in the regional elections that will be held in the rest of the territories.