SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Feb. 3 (EUROPA PRESS) –
National Canarian-Canarian Coalition (NC-BC) president and former Canary Islands’ President, Román Rodríguez, has extended his deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Lorento Olarte, who passed away on Saturday at the age of 91 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria after being hospitalized in critical condition last Tuesday.
Román Rodríguez emphasized that Lorenzo Olarte “undoubtedly, played a vital role as one of the most prominent Canarian politicians during the final years of Franco’s regime, the transition period, and the establishment of democracy and autonomy. He was a true representative of political centrism in the Archipelago and had close ties with former President, Adolfo Suárez. Olarte served as both president and vice president of the Canary Islands’ Government.”
Rodríguez highlighted Olarte’s shift towards moderate nationalism and his significant involvement in the formation of the Canary Coalition in 1993, despite later parting ways due to political discrepancies. As a staunch proponent of autonomy, Olarte faced threats from the central government to invoke article 155 of the Constitution in response to tariff reductions in the late eighties, when the Felipe González administration perceived a fiscal rebellion within the Canary Islands community.
The former Canarian president also underscored Olarte as “a key figure departing from our recent history. He played a pivotal role in transforming and developing various sectors of the community, including education, healthcare, and infrastructure. He contributed to the establishment and strengthening of autonomous institutions with decision-making authority over our pertinent issues and securing recognition of our specificities by the Spanish State and the European Union.”
