The Cabildo of Tenerife has expressed its rejection of the bilateral agreement to modify the current system of autonomous funding reached by the presidents of the Spanish government and the Generalitat of Catalunya; Pedro Sánchez and Salvador Illa, respectively, the island corporation has informed through a statement.
In the plenary session held this Thursday, a motion was approved rejecting this bilateral agreement “for being contrary to the current legal and democratic requirements and for the harm it would cause to the funding of essential public services in the Canary Islands, as well as any proposal for singular or bilateral autonomous funding that diverges from the common system,” stresses the Cabildo in the statement.
Moreover, the island corporation agreed to reaffirm its commitment to the “model of autonomous State enshrined in the Spanish Constitution, based on equality, solidarity, and cooperation among territories,” the statement explains.
In this regard, the plenary of the Cabildo of Tenerife urged the Spanish Government to ensure that any “reform of the autonomous funding system is processed through the established multilateral procedure, with active participation from all autonomous communities within the framework of the Council of Fiscal and Financial Policy” and demands that the Presidency of the Spanish Government respect the principles of unity, autonomy, and solidarity that constitute the pillars of the Autonomic State.
Additionally, it was agreed to demand that the Spanish Government “initiate a negotiation process on the autonomous funding model that effectively takes into account the particularities of the Canary Islands as an outermost region, ensuring the necessary resources to offset the extra costs arising from insularity, remoteness, and territorial fragmentation.”
The motion agreed upon by the plenary also proposes that the Cabildo “send the agreement to the island cabildos and municipalities, through Fecai and Fecam, with the aim of promoting a multilateral negotiation of the funding model for autonomous communities and the protection of the maintenance and improvement of essential public services in the islands.”
It adds that “if this bilateral agreement were to succeed, according to initial estimates, it would mean a loss of 2.5 billion euros for the Canary Islands, while also implying the collapse of the common fund and the rupture of the principle of solidarity.”
“This would put at risk the improvement and maintenance of public services in healthcare, education, and social services in the islands and would widen the gap between rich and poor regions, where the former could lower their taxes while the latter would be unable to fund their essential services, turning Spain into an unjust and unsolidary state,” reiterates the Cabildo.
In this sense, the text adds that the Canary Islands “still cannot use its surplus to enhance healthcare and dependency due to the unfair way the spending rule is applied. Meanwhile, the PSOE grants Catalunya a privileged fiscal system.”
“The content of the PSOE funding agreement to the Catalan nationalist parties that support it to maintain the Government represents a break in the Spanish fiscal architecture and jeopardises the constitutional principles of solidarity, equity, and equal access to public services for all citizens,” states the motion approved by the plenary of the Cabildo of Tenerife.
