The CC-PNC group in the Cabildo de Tenerife denounces the “reduction of 80%” of the funds allocated by the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda to the projects of the North and South trains, in such a way that the Insular Corporation “will only have one million euros available this year compared to the five million that it had allocated in recent years.
The nationalist counselor, Félix Fariña, criticizes “the loss of state funds” because “they represent a slowdown in the railway projects that Metropolitano de Tenerife has to develop.” “Until now, the general state budgets collected an item of five million euros per year, but in 2022 they have reduced it to only one million,” Fariña clarifies.
The CC counselor points out that “not only is it regrettable that they have reduced it, but that last year the five million euros were lost because the Cabildo did not request them.” «We have denounced the paralysis in the management of the PSOE and Ciudadanos because that is affecting the projects in Tenerife. While in Gran Canaria all the parties are united, here the PSOE and Si Podemos Canarias are incomprehensibly opposed”.
The CC-PNC councilor describes Pedro Martín’s position of voting against the trains as “incongruous”, “but he is going to sign an agreement with the Ministry to develop railway projects in Tenerife.” «Facing the gallery he says that they do not want the train so that Si Podemos Canarias does not break the pact and be able to stay in the armchair, but behind the scenes he will sign the agreement so that they give us a million euros. That is the government we have in the Cabildo.”
In January, the vice president and councilor for Roads of the Cabildo de Tenerife, Enrique Arriaga, withdrew a motion from the plenary session in which he requested the inclusion of the South train project in the general interest railway network in the face of threats from Sí Podemos to break his government agreement with the PSOE. Arriaga commented that “it is a pity” that there is no consensus among all the political forces –although the CC-PNC and the PP were going to support it– and at the request of the Socialist Group, he ended up withdrawing the proposal due to the “mistrust” of the groups.
Fariña points out that it is “essential” to have funds for the recovery of the EU destined for sustainable mobility for the construction of the South train and with state funds. “We are facing a unique opportunity. The only ones who oppose it throughout the national, regional and insular territory are the PSOE of Tenerife and Si Podemos Canarias. His position collides with his colleagues from Gran Canaria, where they do support him. Fariña recalls that in February 2022 a CC-PNC motion was approved – with the support of the PP and the abstention of Ciudadanos – to “include the southern train in the General Interest Railway Network.” It was also agreed that there would be a meeting to define the roadmap, but “so far they have not called it.”
