There are few politicians who can boast of having been part of all administrations, from the City Council to the Cortes and at the same time, that this trajectory has been parallel to their internal political career. Manuel Domínguez is one of them. He began as a councilor in his native municipality, Los Realejos, both in the Government and in the opposition, and this is his third term as mayor, all three with an absolute majority, a position he makes compatible with the Parliament of the Canary Islands. He was a deputy in Madrid and advisor to the Cabildo de Tenerife, whose list he headed in the 2015 elections. As regards the PP, he has been the island president since 2011 and as of January he will be at the regional level, an organic position that will allow him to try his luck in a new political challenge: to become the next president of the Canary Islands.
-Finally it turned out to be the favorite to lead the regional leadership of the PP. Did it cost you a lot or was it easy to make the decision?
“It is not easy to make the decision because you have to evaluate it with the family and analyze the pros and cons in that the responsibility is much greater and also, the Canary Islands is a difficult territory, very fragmented. The situation was exciting from the outset but it is a very thoughtful decision ”.
-The current president, María Australia Navarro, announced at the end of November that she was resigning to preside over the party and the celebration in January of a calm congress that favors a calm change, a very different image from the one that Ayuzo and Almeida are giving in the Community from Madrid…
“The truth is that Australia has been an example and that is why I have said in recent days that the parties need many Maria Australia because in the end, she has made a voluntary decision that what has allowed is the development of a congress with absolute normality, which is what I have always wanted. When the parties create these internal conflicts in the end, the wound never stops bleeding and there is always pain around it and it is not necessary, because we are all coming together under the same political acronyms in the same project and there is no need for problems such as those of us who lived on this earth last congress. Therefore, I applaud Australia’s attitude and celebrate that there are still people with that human quality ”.
-Are you also in favor of holding a congress to elect the new insular president of the PP or that a manager continues with the current secretary, Emilio Navarro, at the helm?
“I am in favor of holding a congress. In addition, I am convinced that in Tenerife there will be no problems doing it because the party has internal health and is cohesive and prepared for that moment ”.
– Will you be able to reconcile this new political position with the Mayor’s Office just in a pre-electoral year?
“It is true that it will not be easy because in the end, as I said before, we are talking about the Canary Islands, a fragmented territory that requires constant flying. But it is a public office with another organic one that I have always been able to reconcile and we will see as time goes by how everything will develop and what is the decision that the party makes at the national level regarding the next elections ”.
-Does that mean that you will be the candidate for the presidency of the Canary Islands Government in 2023?
“It is a decision that the national electoral committee has to make. There is no strict rule in this regard, but normally the regional president runs as a candidate for the presidency of the Government. I have assumed this challenge almost thinking about these two objectives, the first is to agree, unite and give muscle to the party internally and then face elections based on 2023 ”.
-What would happen if the PP becomes the second political force in the Canary Islands? Would a government agree with CC?
“We have to wait for the citizens to make the decision and see where they place us. The PP cannot start with a preconceived line or red lines because it is absurd. From my point of view, you have to be open to dialogue, to global and partial agreements because normally you talk about the former, but you also have to take the latter into account. In this sense, the PP in which I believe and which I would like to create is a party of dialogue, understanding and collaboration ”.
-You have been hand in hand with CC with some projects and not others, such as the port of Fonsalía. At one point it was hinted that there was a “buried” pact that followed the line of Madrid’s PP. That’s how it is?
“There are many examples that show that this is not the case and Fonsalía may be one of them. I still do not understand the position of CC, it almost became an extreme party, absolutely populist. He is the one who promotes the project and carries out works such as the access roads and then gets off the ship in an unexpected and unjustified way, but each one knows what he is doing since his political formation. I understand that it is not worth it to go according to the electoral waves and CC plays at that, it moves to one side and another. Therefore, they will know where they want to go. The PP has to be a straight, serious party that can look straight ahead, with firm ideas, some will surely be wrong and we will try to correct them, but without hesitation or lurching. “
-And would you agree with Vox if necessary to get the presidency? According to the surveys, in 2022 it would enter as a new political force in the Government of the Canary Islands …
“We have to wait and see where the citizens place us. I am convinced that the citizenry with the passage of time will realize that populisms are born to create problems not to solve them. And a clear example is the social area of the Government of the Canary Islands, in the hands of Podemos, which is going from bad to worse when it was certainly their flag. They spoke that they were going to solve everything and it is the worst of the areas that is currently being managed ”.
-And does the PSOE also include it within populism?
“The PSOE that I have always known I could not define as a populist party and it is even a necessary party for democracy in this country. It is true that today I see it a bit blurred, practically because its leader, Pedro Sánchez, is a person who today says one thing and tomorrow does exactly the opposite. It is not the socialist party that I would like to have in Spain, therefore, it seems difficult for me to be a party or a trustworthy person who in the end leads a necessary party for this country ”.
– And if the candidate returns to be Ángel Víctor Torres?
“Ángel Víctor has shown me over time that he is quite a puppet and submissive to Pedro Sánchez and that at no time does he put the interests of the Canary Islands before those of his own political formation and those of their leader. In this case, it would be worth having a much more in-depth conversation because if the guidelines are certainly set by that national leadership, there is little we can talk about. But I do not rule out at any time that we can have global or partial conversations, because I am one of those who believe in dialogue and agreements and these are not always all or nothing. “
-In recent weeks you have been very critical of the future sports and fishing pier in Puerto de la Cruz. Has this project been stalled again?
“Starting with the Mayor’s Office and ending with the Government of the Canary Islands, I don’t think it matters. It is a project that is asleep, in which I do not see any signs of activation and in this sense it is a shame. I have said it in the Parliament of the Canary Islands and in the afternoon, the port is the cornerstone that the North needs to reactivate itself. I am convinced that the day the first stone is laid, like the stock market, the North of Tenerife will grow substantially. The counselor said the other day that the powers belong to the Cabildo but that he understood that they should belong to the Government of the Canary Islands and I also understand it that way, but right now, if the Cabildo has them, let it carry out the project. What we cannot do is to be fighting for which is the competent administration. In any case, I don’t see the will on the part of either of them to carry it out because they don’t believe in it and they are not capable of saying it publicly, that is why they have let time go by ”.
-Do you consider that there is a favorable deal with Fonsalía?
“I think that what there is not is a generic approach in Tenerife but patches that are developed based on occurrences and that is bad, because when you start to analyze the situation, nobody gives you answers, be it in terms of ports or roads. Suddenly people start talking about the port of Fonsalía because one day it occurred to me to take a Proposal No of Law to the Parliament of the Canary Islands and the alarm went off everywhere. But if it had not done so, that port would also have been sleeping the sleep of the just and Tenerife would not have a port planning for future development. This government continues to live with its back to the sea, something that is a mistake because it offers us unique opportunities ”.
-Has much promise been made to solve the traffic jams on the Northern Highway (TF-5) and little was done, or are you on the right track?
“Absolutely nothing is being done about it. I do not see any movement that invites me to think that there is a solution to this problem because I still do not understand who does not care that it is not solved. I have been saying for a long time, actively and passively, that the TF-5 issue is not a problem of arriving sooner or later, but rather a health, depopulation, unemployment and family problem. And here it seems that nobody is interested in putting solutions on the table ”.
-Isn’t a lot required of the current government, which has been in place for two years when others ruled for more than four decades and could not solve it?
“It is true that this government has been in place for two years but the PSOE in particular and some vice councilors, in particular, have been in charge of areas such as Public Works in the Government of the Canary Islands for eleven years. Therefore, they cannot say that they do not have responsibilities in this regard, because it seems that sometimes they forget themselves that they governed the last eight years with CC and that they have been in charge of this government for almost three, with which, they have had time to present solutions in matters of such importance as this one ”.
-Are you in favor of the Three Kings parade?
“I am in favor of having them as they were organized last year in Los Realejos. It was shown that they were safe, feasible and that it exponentially raised the illusion of children and children, so I hope that they can be repeated in the same way, without stops and with Their Majesties waving from the vehicles to the public that was on the streets, already that from the houses themselves you could see the passage of the kings ”.
-And the celebration of the Carnivals?
“We would have to wait a bit to see the contagion rates at that time. Perhaps it would be too risky to celebrate the Carnivals as we understand them, but we are still very far away because the pandemic is lurching very quickly and planning two months ahead is a long time: At this moment we must be prudent and wait to see how events unfold ” .
