The President of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, proposed today in Lanzarote to the President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, the drafting of a Royal Decree with specific topics for the Canary Islands to fulfil the commitments made after the signing of the Canary Agenda.
In this regard, Clavijo offered “to draft it ourselves and seek the necessary support for its approval, as we did with minors, because time is passing, and matters vital to our land are being sidelined by being included in omnibus decrees that fail to achieve majorities in Congress or are waiting for General Budgets that never arrive.”
Following the last meeting on the Canary Agenda, held last July, it became evident “the need to relaunch the Canary agenda and the commitment of government interlocutors in that direction, but so far nothing has been done,” lamented the President.
Therefore, “the issues that should be included in that Decree” entail the guarantee of a 60% income tax deduction for the citizens of La Palma and its reconstruction. However, while we wait for the agreed funds, we should be able to use the surpluses from local corporations for the island’s reconstruction as well as to cover the costs of the care of unaccompanied minors.
Additionally, Clavijo highlighted the importance of including the advance payment of the debt contracted with the Canary Islands under the additional POSEI framework, a line of aid that the Government of Spain provides as a complement to the EU’s compensation measures for promoting the primary sector in the Outermost Regions (OMR). Currently, 24.93 million euros corresponding to the years 2023, 2024, and 2025 are owed.
“It is very important to care for the primary sector and our agricultural environment because the depopulation of rural areas is precisely causing the wildfires we are experiencing, which are currently especially virulent on the Peninsula.” The President sent a message of solidarity and affection to those affected.
Furthermore, the Canary President insisted that the reinforcement of the electrical system in the Canary Islands should also be included in that Decree, “whose infrastructure is outdated, and there is always the risk of experiencing power outages like those suffered in Tenerife and La Gomera, and more recently in La Palma. We must consider the installation of portable infrastructures in Lanzarote or Fuerteventura,” islands where hydraulic works are urgently needed to address the water emergency.
Fernando Clavijo insisted that these are vital issues for the islands and for the Canary Islanders, just as the updating of standard transport costs, the extension of the road agreement, and the sufficient funding necessary to complement non-contributory benefits in the Canary Islands, of which the majority of beneficiaries are women.
During the meeting held at the Cabildo of Lanzarote, there was also an opportunity to assess the pending funds related to the Employment and Poverty Plans, which are being processed, “and in the end, we must push in the last quarter, making management difficult, so we have agreed to resume meetings to make them effective, as they are included in the extended budgets,” he added.
Another of the demands that Fernando Clavijo raised with Pedro Sánchez is the need for the State to engage in the strategy led by the regional government with Portugal and France to defend, in the European context, the status of Outermost Region and to ensure that their specific funds are not reduced in the next Union Budget. “On this matter, the President agreed with the Canary Islands’ position that the funds should not be transferred to member States because if the way to integrate the Canary Islands into the European Union disappears, so would our advantages to progress on equal terms with the rest of the territories.”
Regarding the transfer of minors entitled to asylum, Clavijo insisted to President Sánchez that their relocation must be accelerated, as more are arriving than leaving, which does not solve the situation for these children, nor their overcrowding, which, let us remember, the Supreme Court has urged to resolve. “For our part, we informed him that we are aware of the NGOs with places to host them,” he added.
