The two large employers of the Autonomous Community, the Provincial Confederation of Entrepreneurs of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (CEOE-Tenerife) and the CCanarian Federation of Entrepreneurs (CCE), its twin in the demarcation of Las Palmas, are already in the process of renewing their directives. So much José Carlos Francisco at the head of the CEOE-Tenerife as Agustín Manrique de Lara in the presidency of the CCE they are already in the discount time of their respective mandates. One and the other close stages of stability and strengthening of the dialogue between both organizations –the perception of a single large Canarian employer has been greater than ever due to the harmony shown between the businessmen of one province and another– and also with the regional government and the unions, especially after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, which forced a common effort by all social agents. Now, at the end of the mandates of Francisco and Manrique de Lara, two proper names stand out in the race for succession: Pedro Alfonso in the province of Tenerife and Pedro Ortega in Las Palmas.
The process goes a little faster at CEOE-Tenerife. The board of directors of the employers’ association of the western islands already saw in its meeting yesterday the proposal of a large group of businessmen for Alfonso to assume the presidency. You have to remember that Jose Carlos Francisco andHe is about to conclude his second consecutive stage taking the reins of the organization, with which he cannot opt for a third term, that is to say, that the renewal is an imperative of the CEOE statutes. In this sense, the candidacy of Pedro Alfonso represents a line of continuity of the work that has been carried out during the presidency of Francisco. Not in vain, Alfonso – who in his day was one of the founders of the movement of young entrepreneurs in Santa Cruz de Tenerife – is the current secretary general of the CEOE, a position in which he had a parenthesis between mid-2017 and the beginning of 2021, when he returned to the post after completing his stage as vice president –first– and acting president –later– of the consortium of the Canary Islands Special Zone (ZEC), the low taxation area of the Autonomous Community. Linked to the great employers of the province of Tenerife for thirty years – he has been general secretary since 1998 with the exception of those three and a half years of leave for their responsibilities in the ZEC–, the businessman, who reconciles his position in the CEOE-Tenerife with the presidency of the Mutua de Accidentes de Canarias (MAC), thus arouses the sympathy of a very broad business sector in Tenerife, hence the no less extensive support for his candidacy .
The two Pedros embody lines of continuity and stability in the business sector
At the CEOE-Tenerife board of directors meeting held yesterday afternoon, the name of Alfonso –a firm defender of social dialogue, a man of consensus and a connoisseur like few others of the employers’ resources– was the only one on the table, although there is still time for other candidates to be presented.
In the case of CCE, where Manrique de Lara is in the extra year of president that the employers agreed so as not to have to celebrate the process in the worst of the pandemic, another Pedro appears as a firm candidate to relieve De Lara: Pedro Ortega. The former Minister of Economy, Industry, Commerce and Knowledge of the Government of the Canary Islands, a position in which he was during the presidency of Fernando Clavijo, also arouses, like his namesake in the western islands, a wide sympathy among businessmen, in this case those of the province of Las Palmas. The same president of the CCE explained yesterday that Ortega “has shown everything at this point”, which in some way blessed the possibility that he will be his successor at the head of the Canarian Confederation of Entrepreneurs.
The process of renewing the governing bodies will open in the CCE at the end of March or beginning of April, and it is likely that alternatives will also be presented to Ortega’s foreseeable candidacy. Another of the names would enjoy broad support is José Cristóbal García, current secretary general of the organization and who together with Manrique de Lara has formed a highly valued tandem in recent years. However, García – of whom almost everyone is clear that he would be a “great” president of the employers’ association – will not be a contender, at least in principle.
