The government of La Matanza de Acentejo, led by socialist Ignacio Rodríguez, expressed its total opposition this Friday, during its latest local council meeting, to the so-called green or forestry cent, approved this Thursday at the full council meeting of the Cabildo of Tenerife with votes in favour from CC and PP, Vox’s abstention, and the PSOE’s vote against, for “making” fuel more expensive on the island compared to the rest of the Canary Islands.
The ruling team also considers that this surcharge is an evident “fiscal punishment” against residents on the island, especially in the context of economic difficulties for many families who now “have to pay more to fill their vehicle’s tanks”.
The local government regrets that this measure is being applied “when the mobility problems of Tenerife have yet to be resolved”, an island with “many bus routes overloaded and thousands of people who cannot get to work, study, or health centres normally, without relying on private transport”.
“This particularly affects the working class, who do not live in areas with easy access to services because they have been displaced from the centre due to housing pressure,” added the municipal governing group.
For this reason, the Matanza government believes that “imposing this new surcharge, which adds to others, on those with no alternative but to use their car is ‘deeply unfair'”, while criticising the “clear message” sent by the Cabildo: “instead of charging those who visit us as tourists, it opts to do so to those of us who live here, work, and sustain this island every day”.
They also criticised that the Cabildo of Tenerife does not have a “structural need” for revenue from this forestry cent, as they claim that in the first two years of this term, “it has left around 365 million euros unspent, including about 27 million in policies”.
The council has also advocated for the withdrawal of this measure and the promotion of “fair and progressive ecological taxation” based on improvements to public transport on the island, real alternatives for citizens to dispense with private vehicles, and specific support measures for the working classes, young people, self-employed individuals, transport sector workers, and the primary sector.
In this sense, they also defend the creation of an eco-tourist tax that taxes non-resident visitors for their use of territory and resources, as well as any other initiatives proposed or agreed upon with youth, community, environmental organisations, and Tenerife’s economic fabric.
The council has communicated this agreement to the Cabildo, as well as to the Parliament of the Canary Islands and Fecam.
