SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, December 31. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The president of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, has taken advantage of his end-of-year message to call for unity in the face of the “challenges” facing the archipelago. In his opinion, the Islands must move away from the environment of “conflict and confrontation”, betting on “peace and tranquility” to face “these definitive years that are to come.”
“I hope that in the coming years the great family of the Canary Islands will be able to unite as a pineapple to fight for their future,” stressed the head of the autonomous Executive in his speech summarizing 2023 and wishes for 2024.
Clavijo was convinced that “unity is strength.” For this reason, he demanded a common political, economic and social front that allows the archipelago to continue “moving forward with a firm step on a path of progress.” “There is a new generation of young people with talent and training like we have never had in our archipelago,” which guarantees “new opportunities and new challenges that we will have to face and win.”
To achieve this, the president is committed to keeping the Canary Islands on the path of “harmony and tranquility” that “makes us a different land.” In this sense, he applauded the tone of political debate in the autonomous community where he prioritizes the general interest: “there is disagreement and discussion, but always with respect.”
In his first end-of-year speech at the Legislature, Fernando Clavijo was convinced that the archipelago has the capacity to build a better future and “return to the path of growth and social improvement” prior to the arrival of the covid.
“We are not satisfied with putting up with the unemployment we have, the poverty we suffer and the mistreatment we sometimes suffer,” he stressed to guarantee that his Government will defend “tooth and nail” the interests of the Canary Islands. “No one is going to silence us, because we do not depend on anyone,” he assured.
Clavijo made it clear that his Government will fight before the State and the EU in defense of the interests of the archipelago. “We have the duty not to settle. To fix what does not work. To fight to achieve a better future, because the future is built,” he highlighted in his speech.
TOLERANCE AND IMMIGRATION
From the La Restinga dock, the port that has received the most migrants in 2023, the president has also dedicated part of his message to the migratory rebound in 2023. He wanted to remember that the Canary Islands have faced “in absolute solitude and without anyone’s help” the arrival of more than 38,000 people to its coasts, a situation that has especially hit islands like El Hierro “where more migrants have arrived than the entire resident population.”
Clavijo praised that, despite this historic number of arrivals, the Canarian people have humanitarianally received those fleeing hunger, war and misery. In this sense, in the face of the xenophobic discourses that triumph in other territories, he acknowledges feeling “proud to be a Canary Islander” for the example of tolerance given by the Canarians and Canarians, who have treated migrants “with dignity, respect” and even ” “They have healed their wounds.”
The president of the Canary Islands added that the people who come to the coasts of the archipelago do so because “they are not lucky enough to be able to enjoy the same things as us and our children”, something that should “make us value the health system that we enjoy, our modern communication systems, the education our children receive, and the peace and security of our society.
SOCIAL SHIELD
After this reflection, Fernando Clavijo defended the progress made by the archipelago in recent decades, improving its welfare system and expanding the social shield. “We must be proud of the work that previous generations did,” he stressed, because “everything we have today we have achieved with the efforts of our workers and companies. With the sacrifice and solidarity of everyone.”
The head of the Government of the Canary Islands recognizes that the islands are still carrying the consequences of the 2020 pandemic, but was optimistic about the total recovery. “Let us have faith in this town that has its own identity, that has a past and that has a future,” he says in a speech broadcast on television and regional public radio.
Clavijo closed his end-of-year message by being “absolutely sure” that “the Canary Islands that we are all going to build together will be better, fairer and more prosperous than the one we left behind”, words with which he once again called on the unity to face the challenges of the coming years.
