Santa Cruz de Tenerife 11 Mar. (Europa Press) –
The President of the Canary Islands Government, Fernando Clavijo, on Tuesday attributed the rise of the “ultra-right” in institutions to leftist forces, urging them to engage in “self-criticism” following Vox’s entry into the Parliament of the Canary Islands after the ‘Pact of Flowers’.
During the inaugural day of the ‘Debate on the State of Nationality’, he expressed that he does not intend to discuss the issues of “Municipality” or the actions of political parties, despite being the general secretary of CC.
“They need to reflect” on what has unfolded in the Canary Islands, Germany, or the United States, indicating that they should understand that “the populace desires different things.”
He also condemned the “hatred, lack of respect, and disdain” exhibited by former Canary Islands President, Román Rodríguez (NC) during the last legislature, who reportedly “denigrated” members of the nationalist group – a claim strongly denied by NC-BC spokesperson, Luis Campos.
Clavijo advocated for the “unity of action” within the Canary Islands and reopened discussions for agreements between nationalist forces, as this approach “yields results”, particularly at a time when the Canary Islands “are in a vulnerable position” due to potential reforms in the financing system, warning that “the jacobin trend” may attempt “to introduce a negative impact.”
“If we were more generous and moved beyond personal interests, it would be advantageous,” he stated.
He also remarked that the Government would not concede on the State’s proposal for debt removal but cautioned that such action would result in a “serious injustice” and a breach of the agreements established in Parliament, including those by PSOE representatives.
Nevertheless, he pointed out that the savings from debt interest would have “no effect” due to constraints imposed by the spending rule. “Why should we bow our heads or collude with something detrimental to the Canary Islands?” he queried.
He further criticised the lack of “coherence” from the canarists for participating in the Governing Council when they “violated rights” concerning migrants at the port of Arguineguín or altering Spain’s foreign policy regarding Western Sahara.
Clavijo noted that the ‘Canarian Agenda’ “is being pursued with challenges”, mentioning record numbers in inheritance acceptance after tax adjustments and called for support from the central government to initiate discussions with the EU that would allow “reviewing and imposing limits” on residency in the Canary Islands and real estate acquisition, as the conditions and realities at the time of the Canary Islands’ entry into the EU were “different.”
Clavijo has not opposed the tourist tax but indicated that it is necessary to await the outcomes of working groups on demographic challenges and to assess it from an academic, “objective” perspective aside from the “political banner”.
“We cannot afford to make mistakes,” he added, emphasising that the outcome of the initial tourist moratorium has resulted in the government facing 36 lawsuits amounting to over 1 billion Euros.
