Gran Canaria will be left out of the consumption bonus that, to alleviate the January cost, was announced on Wednesday in Parliament by the Vice President of the Government and Minister of Economy, Industry, Commerce and the Self-Employed, Manuel Domínguez. On the other hand, Tenerife will add a new incentive to the promotion of local commerce which, in the coming weeks, it will launch to benefit the 12 municipalities affected by the fire last August.
Domínguez announced an expenditure of about three million euros for consumer bonds on all the islands in collaboration with the different island corporations but, however, Minerva Alonso, Minister of Economic Development, Industry, Commerce and Crafts of the Gran Canaria Cabildo, assured that ” It is not about being for or against”, but rather they prefer to adopt these types of decisions “as soon as we have the Trade Observatory in place and we can have a commercial barometer for the island and data on consumption.”
«We will then raise it with the sector, and everything we will do will be with their consensus. We are not looking for a coffee for everyone. For example, in the Basque Country, decisions are being made about which sectors the bonus is launched to based on data from its observatory,” he stated.
On the other hand, Raju Daswani, president of the Las Palmas Trade Federation (Fedeco), integrated into the Canarian Confederation of Small and Medium Enterprises (Cecapyme), describes the announcement by the head of the Economy as “a totally positive and correct measure.” which “can be complementary” with the Gran Canaria Market Place, which is the commercial initiative launched by the Island Council. “The more incentives there are to encourage family consumption and the more they can contribute to commercial revitalization, the better small businesses will do,” said Daswani.
La Palma, La Gomera and Fuerteventura already have their own initiatives underway to boost trade
Tenerife is the island, with its council at the helm, in which the most municipalities have embraced these commercial incentives, and in January it will have the new, anti-crisis bond just a month and a half after finishing the last edition of the bonds of the capital of Santa Cruz and almost simultaneously with the special incentive measure after the fire.
Precisely, these specific bonuses total 600,000 euros, of which 300,000 euros are for commerce and another 300,000 for hotels and restaurants, which according to their calculations will allow consumption of 1.8 million euros in the affected municipalities.
Santa Cruz, pioneer
The capital of Tenerife, a pioneer in the implementation of this type of initiatives, concluded its third edition of consumer bonds on November 15.
According to the data managed by the capital city council, only in the first month of the edition, 74% of the discounts available in the 433 establishments that joined the campaign were sold. Of them, 401 establishments redeemed a minimum of 50 euros, 106 establishments reached their maximum of 4,000 euros and a total of 9,378 people bought the vouchers.
From the Federation of Urban Areas of the Canary Islands (Fauca), its president, Abbas Moujir, insists that all the experiences launched in the Tenerife municipalities (Santa Cruz de Tenerife, La Laguna, Arona, Los Realejos or San Miguel de Abona) and in La Gomera and La Palma they have been “good and positive.”
“This measure prevents the flight of spending outside the specific municipalities or on the reference islands, depending on the modality, and above all it means support for small and medium-sized businesses and the self-employed,” said Moujir.
For the president of Fauca, consumer bonds “reactivate the business fabric and prevent commercial desertification in specific areas that are defenseless against large stores.”
“The multiplier effect of the bonds is very positive because we talk, for example, that for 600,000 euros charged to the bonds, sales can generate 715,000 euros, since many times people buy for more value than the bonds they have,” concludes.
Fuerteventura is the only island in the eastern province that has launched a bonus of these characteristics, which will be in force until January 31, 2024, so you will also be able to benefit from the extra that comes with the one you want to launch in January. the regional government. At the moment, each majorero can buy up to a maximum of 15 vouchers per person, with a total value of 20 euros per voucher, in each of the 155 businesses participating in the campaign, although they can combine their vouchers with those of another person to make a larger purchase.
In La Gomera, however, the bonuses from its latest campaign can only be redeemed until December 31 at any of the 105 participating establishments, so the regional anti-cost incentive in January will come in handy for both businesses and businesses. families from Colombina Island. Unlike what happens in Fuerteventura, in La Gomera two people cannot pool their vouchers to make purchases for a larger amount.
With regard to La Palma, in addition to the tourist bonus that the Ministry of Tourism launched on two occasions to alleviate the effects of the volcanic eruption and make it possible for all of Spain, through a raffle, to access bonuses of 250 euros to promote the island as a destination, the Island Council launched a third edition of the so-called Bonito Bonito in the 14 municipalities of La Palma, between December 1 and January 5, establishing a maximum of five vouchers of 10 euros for each person and a maximum total expenditure of 4,000 euros per establishment, which can be complemented with the regional bonus.
