Santa Cruz de Tenerife will have its share of prominence in the events that will be held in the Canary Islands on the occasion of the Spanish Presidency of the EU in the second half of 2023. Lhe criticism launched by the mayor of the capital of Tenerife, the nationalist José Manuel Bermúdez, in response to Moncloa’s announcement that the Canarian city chosen for these acts was Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, led the president of the regional government, Ángel Víctor Torres, and The president of the Cabildo de Tenerife, Pedro Martín, summoned the media yesterday to announce that Santa Cruz will host a ministerial conference of the outermost regions (RUP) in November of next year and that the presidents of the countries that have ORs, that is, Spain, France and Portugal, could even come to the capital of Tenerife.
“We shrink if we send the message to the citizens of the misunderstood insularity, which is called insularism”
Torres explained that the State planned to announce the holding of this summit in the capital of Tenerife in the coming days, but, he added, “we had to get ahead of ourselves because of the political declarations that were being made, attacking the State, the Canarian Executive and the Cabildo de Tenerife». Clarified that Santa Cruz has not been left out of the great European events scheduled for 2023, referring to the declarations of the chicharrero mayor, the nationalist José Manuel Bermúdez, who has denounced that the municipality has been excluded from the list of the 25 cities in the country that will host the EU ministerial meetings, «in which Las Palmas de Gran Canaria”.
The ministerial conference of the outermost regions is chaired by the ministers of Foreign Affairs, but that does not prevent the presence of the presidents of the three states, added Torres. He pointed out that the Government of Spain “had, has and will have” planned in the last six months of 2023 to carry out two “major events” in the Canary Islands for the Spanish Presidency of the European Union; one of them, a ministerial meeting, which will take place in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, and the other, the Ministerial Conference of Outermost Regions, which will be held in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, for which “both capitals are included”.
“This matter had to be cleared up; the Tenerife summit will be of the highest level, the presidents of the three countries will be present»
For its part, Pedro Martín indicated that on Wednesday afternoon he spoke with Torres so that “this matter could be cleared up”In the face of accusations of “mistreatment” by the opposition, criticism “which is not new” on the other hand, given that if only one meeting had been held in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria it would have been an “offense” for the capital of Tenerife. He indicated that the Tenerife summit will be of “the highest level” and will put the Canary Islands “at the center” of the ORs and of European politics, a fact that also “demonstrates” the “sensitivity” of the central and regional governments with the island. . Martín stated that the two meetings are very important and has advanced that the presidents of the three countries will be at the meeting, with what will be a “highest level” meeting.
Criticism of Bermudez
The two socialist leaders were not spared in criticizing the mayor of the capital of Tenerife for the letter sent to Moncloa to protest the exclusion of Santa Cruz from the list of Spanish cities announced on Wednesday by the organizing committee of the Spanish Presidency of the EU, which coordinates Moncloa and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. «I have read that Torres mistreats Santa Cruz. Well, I have to say whatand with Torres in the Canarian Presidency and Pedro Martín in the Cabildo The works of the Valleseco beach have been unblocked, the dismantling of the refinery has begun, the project and works competition has been joined to shorten the terms of the TF-1 and we are the first community to sign the agreement on social housing, apart from the demolition of Las Chumberas (La Laguna)”, among other achievements, the president remarked.
The president of the Canarian Executive criticizes the “malicious” use by CC
The head of the regional Executive considers that “we shrink if we send the message to the citizens of the misunderstood insularity, which is called insularism, and one thing is to defend an island and another to turn it into fanaticism.” He also denounced “the malicious and political use of a decision that concerns La Moncloa.”
For his part, the president of Tenerife disfigured the nationalist formation that makes “a speech to disqualify a party” and commented that “the best example” of the treatment given to the capital is the social housing agreement signed in Madrid for more than 10 million euros, to which the Cabildo adds another million. “That’s not talked about,” he commented. Martín said that “we must stop using slogans that only help to confront, generate tension and are also not true” and advocated “looking forward” and continuing to put the Canary Islands “on the agenda” of the central government.
Bermúdez is not satisfied with the meeting of the ORs and demands a meeting like the one in Las Palmas
However, the mayor of Santa Cruz continues to believe that Santa Cruz de Tenerife has been excluded despite being, along with Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the co-capital of the Canary Islands, from the list of the 25 cities in the country that will host the “great events of the Spanish Presidency of the EU. «As they cannot change the list or the schedule of meetings organized by Moncloa, now they say that there will be this meeting of the RUP; they put on a meeting that has nothing to do with the Presidency of the EU, what we ask is that Santa Cruz also host a ministerial summit like Las Palmas because meetings of the outermost regions have also been held previously in the Canary Islands”, he added, despite the fact that Torres pointed out yesterday that it is not a meeting of the presidents of the ORs but of the ministers of Foreign Affairs with the European Commission.
