– Alejandro Barrosa / ACFI – Europa Press
SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 12 June (EUROPA PRESS) –
The President of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, has expressed hope that the visit of Pope Leo XIV has highlighted the humanitarian values essential for managing migration. He wishes for the Holy Father to be “heard” by institutions and for this visit to serve as “a test of conscience and self-criticism.”
“Many times, in isolation, we have felt neither listened to nor understood, by Europe or the Spanish Government. However, following that visit by Pope Francis which initiated plans for this trip to the Canary Islands, doors began to open and circumstances started to change,” the regional president noted in statements to Televisión Canaria, as reported by Europa Press, after the Pope departed from Tenerife.
Reflecting on the Pope’s recent trip, which concluded in the Canary Islands, Clavijo appreciated the emphasis the Pope placed on “the values” necessary to care for “the most vulnerable.” He stated, “We have faith and hope that now, as the new European Asylum Pact takes effect, these values will be heeded by the institutions and that they will recognise certain issues that are not being addressed correctly.”
THE TESTIMONY OF MIGRATION
The Canary Islands president also recalled the testimonies of migrants shared with the Pope, as well as with the general public at the port of Arguineguín (Gran Canaria) and the reception centre at Las Raíces (Tenerife). “I hope that the European institutions, and the world at large, have listened to these accounts because the new migration pact does not guarantee the protection of human rights,” he cautioned.
Clavijo stressed the importance of “reflecting” and “improving” in response to the message conveyed by the Holy Father, particularly highlighting his statement that “the sea cannot be a grave without tombstones.”
“We shall see if, in the coming sessions in the Congress of Deputies, members can at least take heed of 10% of what His Holiness said. If not, it would be a display of hypocrisy: you applaud, you pat your chest, but ten minutes later you return to business as usual,” the Canary Islands president argued.
Clavijo remains “convinced” that this visit should be viewed as “a test of conscience, self-criticism, and reflection,” and as an opportunity to adhere to the principles set forth by the Church, as well as decency and morality. “Otherwise, this would be an exercise in incoherence.”
SÁNCHEZ IN ARGUINEGUÍN
Responding to questions regarding the visit of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to the port of Arguineguín during the Pope’s visit, which he personally described as “inopportune,” as well as Minister of Migration Elma Saiz’s defence of the government’s management of migration, Clavijo remarked that he “missed” a degree of “self-criticism” from the central government, particularly given that this same site hosted “nearly 3000 people under conditions that disrespected human rights” for four months.
“And this was done by this Government, the Government of Pedro Sánchez,” added the regional president.
While the head of the Canary Islands Executive acknowledged that some things “are being done well”—such as the work carried out by social entities and NGOs involved in migration management—he lamented that the Spanish Government “puffs out its chest” when everything is, “evidently, improvable.”
