VALENCIA – Vox has appointed a new director for the General Directorate of Agricultural Production in Valencia. Leticia Sanchiz is anything but unknown in the sector. She is involved in no fewer than 31 companies in the agricultural and photovoltaic sectors.
Based on information from the Trade Register, Eldiario.es writes that Sanchiz has various positions within the agricultural sector. She belongs to the second generation of the Sanchiz Group. This was founded in 2002 by Ignacio and Vicente Sanchiz and is dedicated to the pig farming sector. She is also a shareholder in Becsapork SL. This company manages dozens of agricultural companies in Cuenca, Albacete and Valencia, among others. Furthermore, she is involved in the company Campos Solares Manchegos SL. This owns six solar energy companies. The appointment raises questions about conflicts of interest. Especially since Sanchiz has not yet stepped down from her corporate positions.
Sanctions and controversies
Granja de Ves SL, where Sanchiz is both financial and commercial director, was fined €6,138 last year by the Council of Economy of Castilla-La Mancha. The group also received a grant of €230,000 before the environmental impact assessment was approved. This company is considered one of the “most important in the sector in Europe”. It has also diversified its interests in the renewable energy sector, especially in the photovoltaic sector. According to data from the NGO ‘Friends of the Earth’, the business conglomerate runs macro farms with some 322,000 pigs, which produce 692,000 cubic metres of slurry that pollute aquifers and croplands in Spain.
“Clear conflict of interest”
The NGO denounces the “clear conflict of interest” and warns that “it will have serious environmental and social consequences.” The environmental group previously showed that the expansion of macro pig farming in Ayora, promoted by the Sanchiz group, was marked by ‘irregularities’. The promoter received “a subsidy of €230,000 before the Impact Statement was approved. Moreover, the company was already operational before it was legalised in 2022”.
‘Amigos de la Tierra’ also discusses “the many irregularities committed so far by the Sanchiz business group”, such as the installation of a biogas plant in the macro farm in Albacete or the neighbourhood complaints about alleged illegal discharges at the Pechechín factory in Chinchilla.
Consequently, the environmental group points out that even if it were to relinquish its corporate positions, as laid down in the Incompatibility Act, “the political appointment of the daughter and owner of a business conglomerate that has major interests in the same sector would not be ethical.”
Political reactions
Paula Espinosa, spokeswoman for Agriculture on behalf of Compromís, demands an explanation for this “clearly unsuitable” appointment. The parliamentarian claims that the business group “has been accused of labour irregularities, disregard for animal welfare and withholding information about its dumping plans.” She states that someone with such conflicting interests cannot bear responsibility for a public position.
Therefore, Compromís wants Minister Aguirre of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries to explain through parliamentary channels why he did not take into account that this person is still ‘listed as the director of a business group that has received sanctions for irregularities and withholding of data on the environmental impacts of its activities related to industrial livestock farming and waste management”.
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