The organizing committee of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, which will play a rotating shift in the second half of 2023, announced this week that it had included Las Palmas de Gran Canaria as one of the 25 locations that will host the events bound by this responsibility. A decision that was strongly criticized by José Manuel Bermúdez (CC), the mayor of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the other co-capital of the Archipelago, who even sent a letter to the president of the central government, Pedro Sánchez, asking him to retract and incorporate the city, understanding the territorial configuration of the Islands, in accordance with the Statute of Autonomy.
And the answer did not wait. Yesterday, 24 hours after the first “surprise” statements were made by the councilman, the president of the Canary Islands, Ángel Víctor Torres, and the president of the Cabildo of Tenerife, Pedro Martín, both from the PSOE, announced that Santa Cruz de Tenerife will host a meeting of the Ministerial Conference of the Outermost Regions (RUP). According to what they said, the foreign ministers of Spain, France and Portugal will attend, and it will even be possible to count on the presence – in the absence of specifying an agenda, given that the meeting will take place in November of next year – of the heads of the of the three countries. That is to say: Sánchez, Emmanuel Macron and António Costa.
Pedro Martín stressed at all times that he shared with the mayor the view that, in the event that Las Palmas monopolizes all European events and Tenerife is left aside, “an offense” would take place. However, he stated that in this case it was only a question of time, since, he maintained, the Government of Spain was going to announce this meeting of the ORs “in the next few days”. And, about the commotion due to the absence of the western co-capital in the list, he indicated that “slogans that do nothing but confront” have been launched. In his opinion, the event to be held on the Island gives “a good account of the sensitivity of the Government of Spain” with the Autonomous Community and its singularities.
For his part, the regional president emphasized that the previous time that Spain held the Presidency of the Council of the EU, none of the 88 municipalities of the Canary Islands was selected as the venue. In addition, he branded the accusations of the mayor of Santa Cruz and some members of his government group, made up of CC and PP, of “absolutely unfair and unacceptable political attack”, assuring that they have made “malicious and political use of a decision that it concerns Moncloa” and that it would not even represent the totality of reality, since the list of the first acts was known, but nothing about this other appointment.
Ángel Víctor Torres also wanted to respond to the accusations of “mistreatment” of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. In this regard, he recalled some of the investments that have been proposed in the city throughout this legislature, with the socialists ruling in the Canary Islands and the State, such as the dismantling of the Cepsa refinery facilities or that, through the highway agreement, work has been carried out on the third lane of the TF-1 between Santa Cruz and Playa de las Américas. Milestones that would be added to others that are yet to come, such as the possible designation as the base of the European Tourism Agency or actions that are currently being negotiated or of which details will be known in the near future, as progress is made in the procedures. and relevant procedures.
KEY EVENT
Although neither of the two leaders, who offered a joint appearance at the headquarters of the Presidency of the Government, provided more details about what the dynamics of the meeting that Tenerife will host will be, they did delve into its relevance. In this sense, Pedro Martín stressed that “the Canary Islands are going to be put at the center” of a forum that brings together the outermost regions, and where issues related to the difficulties of being so far from the continental territory, crucial in a post-pandemic context, war in Ukraine and inflation yet to be measured.
As for Torres, he stated that “it is a very important event for the Canary Islands”, given that the community club is focusing the debate on issues that interest the Autonomous Community, such as the rate on aircraft fuel, from which the routes of the Archipelago according to its geographical reality and the need to take flights to leave the Islands and travel with the rest of the country. For the regional president, Tenerife is, in fact, a “more important” event than those planned for the capital of Gran Canaria, which is why he said he did not understand the controversy.
RESPONSE
The mayor of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, José Manuel Bermúdez, responded to the statements made by Torres and Martín, thanking them for “after my public complaint they took it seriously”. Regarding the meeting of the ORs, he considered it “logical” that it is now planned in his city: “It is not the first time they have met in the Canary Islands. That meeting was already held in 2010, so it is nothing new.” Hence, he insists that the Government of Spain “rectify and include us as one of the 26 cities” headquarters of the EU. Finally, he reminded Ángel Víctor Torres “that during these four years the seat of the Presidency of the Government of the Canary Islands is in Santa Cruz de Tenerife”, for which he asked him “to act accordingly”.
