The plenary session of the Cabildo de Tenerife has approved this Monday in an extraordinary session a CC amendment with contributions from Sí Podemos Canarias and the PP that asks for free public transport on the island, both by bus and by tram.
The proposal, validated by the CC, Sí Podemos Canarias and PP, urges that from September 1 to December 31, 2022, vouchers for recurring use of buses and trams are free and under the same conditions, in In terms of use and management, the State offers the rest of the citizens of this country.
Likewise, it asks that the Cabildo de Tenerife complain to the Government of the Canary Islands and this, in turn, demands from the State, an economic compensation for the cost of offering citizens this help “neither more nor less than what is offered to the rest of the Spaniards”.
All this, he adds, in order to promote the use of public transport over private transport, help certain groups in the current economic situation, as well as to mitigate traffic collapses on motorways at peak hours.
Also, among other measures, the plenary session of the Cabildo has unanimously approved the request to the State for a subsidy to the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands that allows the discount of at least 50% to be maintained on public passenger transport from January of 2023.
The director of CC Félix Fariña has pointed out during the course of the plenary session that it is “regrettable” that the Government of Spain takes measures that treat the Canary Islands differently.
“We are always in tow, we arrive late and badly,” said Fariña, who recalled that his party has been asking since April to lower costs and promote public transport.
He has highlighted that CC launched “a lot of aid” when he governed and has reiterated that there is mistreatment by the Government of Spain regarding the public transport bonus that must be corrected.
According to the nationalists, the Canary Islands are facing a “historic opportunity” to reverse the use of public transport in the Canary Islands, where they have said that infrastructure and staff must be improved in TITSA and a strike in this company must be avoided.
The Citizen Counselor Enrique Arriaga has requested that the public transport bonus be permanent over time and not just four months.
He has insisted that the discount, “whatever it is”, last over time and not “an ephemeral one” for four months; and he has argued that a 50% discount for “life” has more impact than one hundred percent for four months.
In addition, he has asserted that “Papa Cabildo does not have the financial capacity to support 100%” of the bonus and has demanded “not generosity but justice” and a sufficient and adequate contribution to maintain the aid beyond December 31.
The counselor of Sí Podemos Canarias María José Belda has insisted that “for justice” the conditions of the Canary Islands be equal to those of the Peninsula, while she has argued that the habits of citizens are not changed only by lowering prices.
In order for there to be a real impact and to stop using the car, TITSA staff must be expanded, park and ride facilities and more lines must be created, and timetables adapted to the needs of the population must be generated.
The PP counselor Manuel Fernández has described as an outrage the decision of the Government of Spain not to subsidize all the buses in the Canary Islands, when he has said that there are more than enough resources.
“I want the same as the rest of Spaniards, neither more nor less,” said Fernández, who has long asked for 100% transportation discounts for those over 65 years of age.
The PSOE counselor Javier Rodríguez has criticized the holding of this extraordinary plenary session for being “tremendously biased” and for having given rise to “irrelevant and even ridiculous” comments.
He has lamented that CC has the “chutzpah” to say that a 50% discount seems little to him when he previously celebrated a “revolutionary” drop of 10 cents.
He added that the Government of Spain treats the Canary Islands “correctly and affectionately”, a community with which it is “sensitive” and that the CC carries out an “erratic” policy, while the PP “dances” to its rhythm.
