The Insular Socialist Group, the main opposition party in the Tenerife Island Council, has requested an extraordinary plenary session for President Rosa Dávila to appear and, as stated in a PSOE press release, “explain her boycott of the last session, the one in April, regarding the ecotax debate”.
The organic regulations state that “in case the President does not do it voluntarily, the plenary will be automatically convened in the coming weeks”.
In the ordinary session of April, CC and PP presented a total amendment to the socialist motion on the green tax. Faced with this, the proposing group withdrew it, considering that the new text “distorted” the meaning of their initiative and “avoided the debate and vote”.
The alternative proposal was the charge for access to protected natural areas, a measure that, according to the PSOE, “is not the real ecotax, as it has been socially promoted in Canary Islands in recent years and was evident during the social mobilization on April 20th.” The forces forming the island government fully amended the socialist motion to tax tourist overnight stays for non-residents in the Islands.
The alternative proposed by Coalición Canaria and the People’s Party, a proposal to study charging for access, “would deprive other tourists of the income they generate”. The President of the Socialist Group, Pedro Martín, insists: “Dávila did not want to support a green tax and is trying to deceive public opinion by claiming that paying to enter entails that. And that’s false.”
The socialist request was registered last Tuesday, April 30th, so if the President does not convene the extraordinary plenary voluntarily, it will be automatically activated as established by the regulations of the island council, within a specified period for its celebration.
The PSOE proposes, as it included in its electoral program, the implementation of a direct tax on overnight accommodation stays by non-residents, including holiday homes, with the aim of redistributing the wealth generated by tourism in the Canary Islands.
