SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 30th April. (EUROPA PRESS) –
President Casimiro Curbelo of the Cabildo of La Gomera, emphasised on Tuesday the “unity of action” achieved during the Conference of Presidents held in the Parliament of the Canary Islands to establish the criteria guiding the territorial development of each island and lay the foundations for the future, based on inputs from public administrations and island society, in line with the principles of the ‘Canarian Agenda 2030’.
Following the conclusion of the meeting, attended by the seven councils along with the President of the Government of the Canary Islands and other Executive members, Curbelo underlined the commitment to chart a course aimed at addressing critical issues such as implementing measures to ensure sustainable and orderly growth, the fair distribution of wealth created by the tourism sector, and transparency in territorial planning.
Curbelo stated that the current Canary Islands “face numerous shortcomings” necessitating “interdisciplinary policies” complementing island and municipal planning.
“The objective is to tackle issues like social exclusion, housing shortages, and many others through planning, to pave the way for a sustainable life in the Canary Islands,” he remarked in a statement.
He reiterated that tourism “is not the adversary of the islands”, but rather a wealth-generating catalyst “that needs to be scrutinised to maximise its benefits”, and cautioned against “excessive” demographic growth as a significant risk for the islands, which have seen a population increase of around 500,000 people over the past two decades.
Thus, he deemed the island councils as “pivotal institutions” in implementing public policies to address the demographic challenge, “which stands as one of the greatest obstacles facing the Canary Islands.”
In this regard, he commended the regional government’s commitment to consolidate efforts from each island’s administrations to foster a collaborative framework involving public bodies, private entities, and citizens.
Consequently, he indicated that the present state of the islands, characterised by a demographic situation exacerbating issues due to population concentration in some areas and depopulation in others, coupled with limited medium to long-term planning, in highly touristic areas, “is leading to mobility issues, lack of public infrastructure, or difficulties in accessing housing.”
The President of the Gomero Cabildo also stressed the promotion of new solutions by public administrations to boost life quality indices and enhance the equilibrium between tourist activities and the resident population on the islands.
In this context, he highlighted the formation of task forces comprising representatives from the Government, councils, and municipalities, tasked with exploring topics such as territorial development, housing accessibility, tourism employment, environmental preservation, and the demographic challenge.
