SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 11 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The general secretary of the Canarian Coalition (CC), Fernando Clavijo, affirms that the public transport bonus approved by the central government –100% for commuter and medium-distance trains and 50% in the Canary Islands for buses and trams– is due to ” stop the bleeding of the PSOE polls” because it is “temporary” and in the specific case of the archipelago, it denies rights to citizens.
In an interview granted to Europa Press on the occasion of the beginning of the political course, he appeals to the fact that the REF includes the right to have a subsidy or compensation for the canaries to move by plane, ship or road that seeks that the cost per kilometer be equivalent to that of a peninsular and even so, “the cost of a canary is higher”.
It emphasizes that peninsulars “can go nearby or medium distance” for free and Canarians cannot because there is no train while specifying that “it is not true” that the per capita investment of the bonus is greater in the Canary Islands than in the rest of Spain. “They are selling their book, the propaganda and publicity office in Moncloa is capable of justifying whatever you want,” he points out.
Clavijo also questions that the Canarian president Ángel Víctor Torres “a month ago believed that it was necessary and fair to do so, but Moncloa calls him to a chapter, lowers his head because he obeys his boss and begins to justify”.
The general secretary wonders why Canarians are not entitled to free transportation and “why a student who lives in Vallecas, Pozuelo or Las Rozas can go by train for free and a Canarian student cannot do so”.
“It is a right that we are being denied, it is a matter of principle,” he indicates, also stressing that 80% of the Ministry of Transport is linked to the development of high-speed trains and the Canary Islands do not see “a single euro” and also contribute taxes.
“That I used to pay 30 euros for a bond and now pay 15, okay, but I would like my daughter or anyone’s children to be on equal terms with the children of someone who lives in Madrid, Bilbao or Barcelona,” he says.
“EVEN THE MINISTERS DID NOT KNOW THE MEASURE”
Clavijo recalls that his Government, in the last Legislature, promoted the Canary Resident Bonus for the use of public transport without limitations, a “fantastic” step forward but the new Executive paralyzed that it also serve for all the islands.
Now, he continues, President Sánchez is taking a measure that “not even the ministers knew about” and on top of that it is only for four months, so “a bottleneck problem” is generated because there is no network of buses adapted to the excess of demand and also leaves other sectors out such as the taxi.
In his opinion, “comparative grievance” is generated and what is worse, “it is a temporary measure, not structural, it is not solving anything” because being limited in time does not allow the transfer of the private vehicle to public transport.
For Clavijo, “these measures must be taken in a more calm and collegiate way with the autonomous communities, that they be structural, the future lies in that and to apply fairer policies and that the bonus and the cost be adapted to the economic capacity of the user “.
“It can be done but you have to be willing to work,” he adds.
