SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Aug. 9 (EUROPA PRESS) –
Podemos Canarias has insisted on once again claiming free public transport on the islands, demanding that the discounts be equal to those of the rest of the national territories after learning of the announcement that it will be limited to 50% both in buses and in the tram.
The lack of progress in the negotiations between the President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, and that of the Canary Islands, Ángel Víctor Torres, has led the purple formation to summon the Canarian PSOE to “not give in to conformism” and to “avoid lurching ” in a matter of “enormous sensitivity” such as the possibility of “advancing towards a scenario of free, public and sustainable mobility in the midst of an inflationary crisis and in the midst of a climate emergency that is already beginning to wreak havoc on the islands.”
Laura Fuentes, regional coordinator of the purple formation, insisted that it is “clearly incomprehensible that a measure such as free public transport”, which will be applied in territories with train transport systems, “is not adaptable to the Canary Islands, in where the bus is the main means of public mobility”. “The commitment to the people and the reality of the islands is shown at times like these,” said Fuentes.
The leader of Podemos Canarias has flatly rejected the reasons given by President Torres to justify the offense in the financing of the transport of the islands, since “saying that there is no competence, when there is the figure of the agreement between administrations, or that we already have a discount on the plane is simply not acceptable”.
According to Fuentes, “the PSOE’s indecision and continuous changes in criteria send an enormously damaging message to our population, which does not understand why the Canary Islands receive half the funding for their public transport than the rest of the State’s territories.”
“Families in the Canary Islands, the self-employed and self-employed, and SMEs are going through a very complex situation today that requires public authorities to rise to the occasion. Ensuring that free buses are available would be a huge relief in a context of inflation in which governments regional and state governments must act with extraordinary empathy,” he insisted.
As Podemos Canarias has been defending for weeks, “equitable treatment of our land and our people constitutes a demand for pure justice and common sense.” “We trust that the Government of Spain will reflect and that we will soon be able to celebrate the historic milestone of having free public transport on the islands,” Fuentes concluded.
