Several groups, such as Solidaridad con Venezuela, which serve people without legal residence on the Island, but registered on it, request access to the Free Transport Bonus of the Cabildo de Tenerife for the buses of Titsa and the trams of Metropolitano. Currently, since the beginning of April – the free of charge was launched on January 1, 2023 – they are denied if they do not deliver the Foreigner Identity Card (TIE) that many of them even process to be accepted international protection as asylees. The lawyer Loueila Mint, Lala as she is known, who advises them, estimates that “we have about sixty people registered with this problem but we think it could be a hundred.” Mint has transferred all the documentation to the Common Deputy, Rafael Yanes, since they visited the institution a few days ago to seek its protection. The response of the Island Corporation, through a document from the competent Service Headquarters, explains that requesting this requirement is a measure “coherent” with the applicable legislation for this.
The writing.
In the document presented before the Diputación del Común and in parallel in the Cabildo de Tenerife, the modification of the requirements for foreigners is formally requested in terms of the requirement to prove the TIE card in order to obtain free transport, “adjusting to the equal treatment and the principles of non-discrimination» regarding the administrative situation of these people.
The motives.
The Social Solidarity Association Venezuela is dedicated “to work and accompaniment with the foreign population in terms of their regularization and registration.” In his argument regarding the refusal to grant free public transport to these people, he recalls the procedure to follow through the link request.tenmas.es. These are five simple steps to be completed by anyone who wants a free bonus that culminate with “choose the place where the card will be sought and after a week it will be available”. This is not the case in these cases because the applicant finds that they deny him the card. The reason is that “it is required as a requirement for foreigners to hold a TIE identity card, in order to prove residence and its modalities. The group understands that “this requirement clearly violates the right of foreigners residing in Tenerife and in Canary Islands to obtain free transportation on the same terms as nationals, subjecting it to their administrative situation and not to their residence. Therefore, “this practice by the Administration supposes a discrimination contemplated in our regulatory regulations.” Finally, the reasons given conclude that «the prohibition of discrimination is included in the main international agreements on Human Rights, as well as in the regulations of the European Union and Spanish legislation.
The answer.
The Administrative Mobility Service of the Cabildo de Tenerife, in a document signed by the Head of the Service Pedro Luis Campos Albarrán, responds to the document registered with entry on March 30, 2023, regarding the transport voucher for migrants in Tenerife. The official explains the following literally: «I mean that this Management Center has not discriminated against citizens non-EU citizens to obtain subsidized tickets for regular passenger transport (free of charge)». It is motivated by the fact that “the criterion of legal residence in the Canary Islands is perfectly consistent with the Agreement of the Insular Government Council, dated December 20, 2022 and with the Departmental Order of the Autonomous Community, dated June 8, 2022, which establishes that the resident season ticket is reserved for citizens residing in the Canary Islands.» Both documents were sent to the legal representation of these people, as well as “the protocol formalized with the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands equates the bonus for the elderly, disabled and young to the Canarian resident.” Consequently, it assesses the response “this Management Center understands that any citizen, with legal residence in the Canary Islands, and without discrimination based on race or nationality, has the right to access the corresponding title.”
The unknowns.
Lala Mint has several questions about this conflict. In the first place, he finds it “curious” that “the same administration -Cabildo Insular de Tenerife- that grants a subsidy, through the Ministry of Social Action, Citizen Participation and Diversity, for a project aimed at promoting the inclusion of migrants on the Island is excluding those registered and who regularize their situation in terms of the requirements of the free transportation voucher. The lawyer recalls that the initiative emphasizes “accompaniment in the registration and regularization procedures.” Mint defends that “this requirement violates the right of foreigners residing in Tenerife to obtain free transportation on the same terms as nationals.”
For Mint it is essential to know «What does the administration understand by residence? The key may be there because the interpretation of the rule is strict and they propose legal residence when, in our opinion, this procedure is not the responsibility of the Island Council, since the registration is enough. He adds: “We have analyzed the three documents provided by the Cabildo in its response and none requires legal residence.”
Finally, the lawyer states that “if for three months, January, February and March, there was no incident and the free bonuses were given, why is it limited from that moment on?” In this regard, she considers it “interesting” to know the processing of some of the people who received them without any problem in those first three months of this year.
Resident discount.
The hypothetical discrimination is not limited only to the free transport voucher but to the benefit of residence at the time, for example, of traveling. An example is that of Keyla. She has lived on the Island for four years, is registered and with residence authorization. However, the trip to Gran Canaria this week costs him 155 euros “and because I got it out on time.” The resident discount does not apply
The mediator.
The Diputación de Común has all the documentation and has agreed to mediate in a possible situation of discrimination that, according to the complainants, “violates national legislation and the human rights agreement.” The Common Deputy promised to “study the documentation because we are clearly against any discrimination.”
