The construction employers in the province consider that Tenerife should now be “the Island of works” and it is up to Gran Canaria to “stay calm, it is very good”. Óscar Izquierdo, president of the Provincial Federation of Construction Entities of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Fepeco), agrees with the Canary Coalition in the “concern” about the paralysis for years of an “Island of projects” that today continues “to be done ». The headquarters of the entity is the scene of the meeting between its directors and representatives of the nationalist formation. There it is debated with two slogans as a base. On the one hand, that Tenerife is paralyzed and on the other, Tenerife needs you from CC. Izquierdo defends the union of both concepts in a thesis that explains “in favor of regional balance” more exquisite.
Izquierdo advocates a change for the benefit of that regional balance. He affirms that Tenerife is an Island “to be done, in which all the financing has gone to others”. Izquierdo heads the host embassy to meet with the insular secretary general of CC, Francisco Linares; the secretary of the Organization of Tenerife nationalists and regional deputy, Rosa Davilaand the mayor of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Secretary of Insular Policy of CC , José Manuel Bermúdez.
The president of Fepeco reveals the double characteristic of the current moment in the sector. On the one hand, the negative factor posed by the “huge” rise in prices of raw materials and fuels due to external circumstances such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine. On the other hand, on the positive balance, the best employment data in the last five years.
regain leadership
Izquierdo values that construction underpins the Canarian economy, with an “impressive” level of employment growth. It employs 55,000 people and almost 130,000 live directly or indirectly from this sector.
The representatives of the Canary Coalition explain their proposals on pending infrastructure projects in Tenerife, an island that, according to Izquierdo, has to “regain the leadership that it should never have lost.” Precisely, the president of the employers’ association points out, the recovery of that leadership involves facing the works of these infrastructures. Sentence: “Tenerife has been an Island in the making for decades”.
Izquierdo enumerates those eternal works, without culminating, or, even, without beginning in other cases. He initiates his relationship with the Motor Circuit. He is surprised that there is still discussion about whether to create a commission to monitor the project, despite the fact that “even Primary school children know about the circuit.” He also refers to other “fundamental” works, such as the construction of the Fonsalía port, the new Tenerife Sur airport terminal, the Granadilla port regasification plant or the Güímar ravines pumping plant.
Francis Linares shares the idea that “Tenerife has lost the position of privilege and leadership that it had” and that the Island “has ceased to be the economic engine of the Canary Islands”. The nationalists transfer their “enormous concern and great concern” to the employers for the “lost mandate” both at the insular and regional levels. The also mayor of La Orotava affirms that “Tenerife has historically been the economic impulse of the Archipelago, and in these last three years, practically everything has been paralyzed.” He adds that “there is a lack of leaders at the island and regional level, and those who are there are weak or follow orders from Madrid.”
Not one of a thousand proposals
“We regret that in these years the experience of 25 years of government has not been taken into account by not considering a single one of the thousand proposals that we have made to promote the Island again,” Linares asserts.
Linares shows in this forum his “intrigue” for the millions of euros from the European Recovery Funds “that exist” but “they are not palpable nor is it known where they are destined”. He underlines the willingness to “listen and take note” at this meeting, which also deals with the Economic and Fiscal Regime (REF) from the Canary Islands It guarantees CC’s commitment “to clean energy on a sustainable island”. He considers that “the first work table to face is mobility” because “Tenerife is collapsed” which influences the economy and job creation. It concludes with the idea that “it is vital that guided transport – including the southern train – be installed as soon as possible”.
