SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 21 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Minister of Education and Universities of the Government of the Canary Islands, Manuela Armas, said this Friday that the declaration of the ‘herreño whistle’ as an Asset of Cultural Interest (BIC) is “unstoppable” once the Executive itself has already initiated the file.
In response to questions from the PP and CC-PNC in the parliamentary commission, he has commented that there is a 24-month deadline, although he has promised to “expedite” the process so that it ends before the end of the Legislature.
Armas has denied that there is a “black hand” in the face of delays in processing and has appealed for everyone to work together because no whistle “is better than another” and “it is a wonder” that there are two whistled languages in the archipelago.
The counselor has recounted the history of the file and recalled that after the request made by the Cabildo de El Hierro in 2017, a ruling by the Constitutional Court in December 2019, which annulled an article of the Canary Islands Heritage Law, made the file, which has now been restarted at the initiative of the Executive itself – the Cabildo reiterated it again in April 2020 -.
“There has been no irresponsibility of the Government of the Canary Islands,” he added.
Juan Manuel García Casañas (PP) has criticized that the processing of the BIC “has been hindered” from the Ministry of Education as if it were a “science fiction movie” and when there are seven months left before the Legislature ends, it seems that “there is always some inconvenience to approve it”.
He has demanded that “a good of all” be protected, which is also endorsed from the scientific point of view by independent experts.
Narvay Quintero (CC-PNC) has criticized the “contradictions” of the Ministry and has recognized that “something has happened with this file” as a result of the Cabildo charging against the “discriminatory treatment” that the Ministry has dispensed.
“Something has been done so that this is delayed,” he commented, stressing that the Government could have appealed the ruling of the TC and instead, “the file is dropped.”
Quintero has denied that he wants to seek a “confrontation” between islands or between institutions but has stressed that there has been “abandonment of functions” that must be “purged” hence he has requested in writing all the processing of the BIC.
