La Laguna’s 2025 Festivities Budget Exceeds Seven Million Euros Amidst Cuts to Social Housing and Public Services
Idaira Afonso de Martín, councillor and co-spokesperson for the Lagunera coalition, rejected budget modification file number 47/2025 in the Finance Committee on Friday. This modification proposes an additional £800,000 for the festivities budget.
“It is concerning that our municipality is set to break the record for spending on festivities in 2025, particularly when essential allocations for improving services and addressing serious issues like housing are not being met,” she stated. This budget alteration entails the removal of £290,000 from the long-awaited renewal of the pavement at Mesa Mota, £322,000 from the San Roque drainage project, and another £190,000 from the designated fund for “urgent drainage and sewage actions”.
Afonso believes the PSOE-CC government’s sole plan is to “transform festivities into the sole focus of local activity, in a year when they will not invest a penny in new housing purchases for vulnerable families”. Furthermore, she expressed concern that this is being done at the expense of projects like improving access to “one of the main green lungs of the entire metropolitan area, which is Mesa Mota, now completely neglected and nearly continuously closed for community use under this government”.
The festivities budget for La Laguna has shattered all records, starting with a £6 million allocation at the time of budget approval, which has increased in recent months by an additional £802,000. “During the budget debate, it was stated that this was to cover the actual costs of the festivities, but the reality is that they have continued to create and invent new events, resulting in uncontrolled spending that reflects poorly on local management, like the recent parade announcing the Cristo festivities,” she explained.
File 47/2025 also includes other modifications affecting areas such as Culture and Education. “We are aware that there are valuable projects being proposed within this modification, but clearly, more than half of it is allocated to the area of Festivities, which again is being lumped together with other expenditures to attempt to soften what is a blatant mismanagement, and for which we were the only vote against this in the Commission,” she concluded.
