The Association of Packing, Exporting and Marketing Entities of La Palma has made this request after securing a commitment from the PP that, if proposed by Coalición Canaria in the regional Parliament, it will support advancing compensation to farmers with regional funds due to the blockage of the 100 million euros annually that the Canary Islands is demanding from the state government.
The situation of the farmers, most of whom are banana growers, affected by the volcanic eruption of 2021 is now “desperate”. In addition to the delay in the payment of aid for the production losses caused by the volcano in 2024 and 2025, the 100 million euros annually earmarked in the State Budget for the agricultural reconstruction of the Valle de Aridane have not been transferred to the Canary Islands. This comes alongside the end of the mortgage moratorium for farmers affected by this disaster.
In light of this situation, the Association of Packing, Exporting and Marketing Entities of La Palma (ASEPALMA) has gained a commitment from the regional president of the PP and deputy president of the Canary Island government, Manuel Domínguez, that his party will support the regional administration to advance those funds that the Pedro Sánchez government has failed to provide. This aims to eliminate the “agonising economic uncertainty” for farmers who lost their banana plantations under the lava of Tajogaite nearly 4 years ago.
This commitment was secured by the PP in front of the ASEPALMA delegate in Covalle during a recent visit to the reconstruction works of the packing facility of this cooperative, which was destroyed by the volcanic eruption. The regional councillor for Tourism and Employment, Jéssica de León, and the councillor for Ecological Transition, the Palmero Mariano Hernández Zapata, both also from the PP, were present during this visit.
Therefore, ASEPALMA is requesting that CC initiates the proposal to present this matter to their government partners and in the Canary Parliament, so that, using the funds from the Autonomous Community, this financing can be advanced. This agricultural association emphasises that it does not wish to renounce its legitimate claim to the state government for the transfer of these resources, as state support is “just” to restore hope to a region that has suffered the worst volcanic disaster in Europe in the past century.
It is worth remembering that at the end of May, during the plenary of the La Palma Cabildo, the PP spokesman, Carlos Cabrera, already suggested that if state funds do not arrive, it should be the Canary government that assumes the cost of compensating volcanic victims for their lost property, as he considers it a commitment from the regional executive to the affected parties.
Furthermore, ASEPALMA hopes that CC and PP will soon reach an agreement in the regional government on this matter. According to media reports from May, the president of Coalición Canaria in La Palma, Nieves Lady Barreto — who is also a councillor in the government presided over by Fernando Clavijo — announced that she would present motions to the town councils and the Cabildo to request the regional Ministry of Finance (also under PP control) to seek the funds to compensate all those affected by the volcano for their losses.
Likewise, this association also expects the unity and support of all parliamentary groups for this measure.
COMMITMENT OF THE CANARY GOVERNMENT
ASEPALMA also highlights that, following his visit to Covalle, Manuel Domínguez stated in an official press release that “if Sánchez fails to comply […], let the people of La Palma know that the Canary government, their government, will do what is necessary to compensate for this negligence by the socialist executive”. These words were confirmed, in the same statement, by Mariano Hernández Zapata, former president of the La Palma Cabildo and currently councillor for Ecological Transition and Energy of the Canary government.
The regional government has allocated, both in the 2024 and 2025 autonomous budgets, an extraordinary allocation of 50 million euros that, according to ASEPALMA, should be increased and extended if this proposal is approved, should state funding not arrive in the short term.
ASEPALMA draws attention to “the increasingly heavy burden of the economic difficulties faced by farmers affected by the volcano, as the fourth anniversary of the volcanic eruption approaches next September. Very few of the 360 hectares of destroyed crops have been able to be rebuilt, on an island where the primary sector drives its economy, and many families are already losing hope”.
