The Secretary of Organisation for PSOE Canarias, Nira Fierro, and the Tenerife MP and General Secretary of PSOE Tenerife, Tamara Raya, are calling on the President of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, and the President of the Tenerife Cabildo, Rosa Dávila, to clarify their position regarding the celebration of Vuelta a España in Tenerife, as advocated by the Vice President of the Insular Corporation.
On Wednesday, Fierro and Raya demanded that President Clavijo and President Dávila reject the celebration of the Vuelta Ciclista a España in the Archipelago and on the island of Tenerife while the Israeli team participates in the competition. They warned that Coalición Canaria (CC) could be complicit in this genocidal act if it fails to take a stance.
Fierro and Raya emphasised the Socialist Party’s “total commitment” to peace, highlighting the role of the Spanish government and Pedro Sánchez in opposing the genocide in Gaza, and the leadership the President is demonstrating on the international stage for the recognition of two states.
Fierro requested the exclusion of the Israeli team from the upcoming Vuelta Ciclista a España and insisted that both the Canary Islands Government and the Tenerife Cabildo should not host the event if Israel participates, as already rejected by the Gran Canaria Cabildo. “We cannot whitewash genocide through sport. We must be clear and unequivocal. There is no room for neutrality in this matter.”
According to the Secretary of Organisation for PSOE Canarias, “we must take a stand for peace, for all those being massacred—19,000 children, over 70,000 people slaughtered by a regime that the UN now deems genocidal, despite the right in this country struggling to acknowledge it.”
In this respect, she clarified that what the Partido Socialista de Canarias is calling for is a message that is “absolutely clear” for peace, for human rights, and against this barbarism, “which cannot leave us indifferent, especially when this Israeli team is led by Netanyahu’s ambassador, as he himself defines it.”
Fierro recalled that Europe has given lessons on peace regarding Ukraine, and therefore, society cannot now remain indifferent to the genocide occurring in Palestine. “And, of course, the Canary Islands institutions cannot legitimise any warmongering attitudes or the genocide and barbarism being committed against the Palestinian people.”
Furthermore, she stressed that holding the Vuelta Ciclista a España in the Canary Islands “costs money,” with financial contributions from the Canary Islands institutions, including the Gran Canaria and Tenerife Cabildos, as well as the Government of the Canary Islands. “Therefore, President Fernando Clavijo and Rosa Dávila must clarify whether they intend to sanitise what is occurring in Palestine through sport with Israel’s participation.”
On her part, the General Secretary of PSOE Tenerife stated that it is unfathomable for Canary Islands institutions “not to reject something that goes against common sense, against sensitivity, and that furthermore shows a tremendous lack of empathy on the part of the right-wing in this country, which refuses to recognise what is plain to see.”
Along these lines, she demanded that the President of the Tenerife Cabildo clarifies “in no uncertain terms” to the Tenerife public whether she is willing to have the island participate in the Vuelta Ciclista with Israel’s involvement, reiterating that international organisations must exclude Israel from sporting events, as they did with Russia.
“Sport and the cultural world are uniting, and today the Basque University has also refused to collaborate on projects involving Israeli money. I believe that Tenerife and the people of Tenerife do not feel represented at all by what the Vice President of the Tenerife Cabildo, Lope Afonso, has stated, because it does not reflect the sentiments of the citizens; it reflects clearly partisan interests,” she clarified.
PP’s Distancing in the Tenerife Cabildo and Motion
Raya criticised the Popular Party in the insular institution for distancing itself from this genocide and called on Dávila “to come forward and clarify whether she is aligned with what her Vice President says, or with what the President of the Gran Canaria Cabildo has stated.”
For the Socialist MP, the PP in the Canary Islands “has demonstrated since the beginning of this legislative term that it is not at all committed to human rights, and we have experienced this first-hand with what has happened to migrant minors. And Coalición Canaria, if it does nothing, will continue to be complicit in this attitude, which I reiterate, does not represent the feelings of the majority of Canary Islands society, nor even those of Tenerife.”
Raya announced that the Socialist Group will present a motion in the Tenerife Cabildo for all political parties to state their position “and say whether they are in favour or not.”
