Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy announced today that the country's north-western high-speed rail link (AVE) between Galicia and Madrid would be finished in 2018.

Rajoy had promised to confirm a completion date for this project by the end of the summer and has done so during a speech Soutomaior castle in Pontevedra today.

He also pointed out that the contract for 14 kilometres of track were still to be awarded, but said he was still convinced that the AVE to Galicia would be completed in 2018.

This is the now the latest official completion date, after the rupture of the Obradoiro agreement between the Galician regional government (la Xunta) and the previous Socialist government, that had set 2015 as the completion date. A report drawn up by technical experts had already made it clear that at the the current rhythm of investment, the Galician AVE could not be completed before 2018.

The prime minister also made a promise today to help a specific number of industry sectors in Galicia, including dairy farmers, fishermen and the naval shipyards.

"I have fully aware," he said, "that dairy farmers do not get what they deserve in exchange for their hard work and dedication, and negotiations are ongoing to see that they get a fair price for the milk they produce".

With regard to the naval shipyards, Rajoy confirmed that his whole government was in favour of supporting the sector to see steelworkers get orders and do what they know best, build ships.