Canary Islands oppose debt forgiveness for Catalonia: "Tenerife's money is for Tenerife!"
Representatives of the Canary Islands are demanding a review of spending rules and fair funding, warning against writing off Catalonia's debts at the expense of the Canary Islanders.
Cristina Valido, a representative of the Canarian Coalition in parliament, and Rosa Dávila, the head of the island of Tenerife, jointly stated: the spending rules need to be changed! And we cannot allow Catalonia's debts to be written off at our expense, and for funding to be unfair.
After a meeting at the Island Council, they explained to reporters: you cannot treat everyone the same when the conditions are different. The Canary Islands have always fulfilled their obligations, and our debt is quite normal.
We do not need debt financing. It is much more important to change the spending rules. Right now, it turns out that organizations like the Tenerife or La Palma councils (with their volcano and a bunch of problems) cannot use their own money!
Cristina Valido considers it absurd when some have billions of debts written off and are given special funding, while the needs of unique territories, such as the Canary Islands, are ignored. This is not just our whim, it is written in our laws! We want them to be followed.
Rosa Dávila added: writing off Catalonia's debts is money taken from the residents of the Canary Islands and Tenerife. This is money for medicine, education, social services, and roads. And at the same time, we are not allowed to spend our own money due to outdated rules, because there is no state budget.
She reminded that last year the Tenerife council spent all its money, so it was necessary to develop a savings plan until 2026.
"The money of the residents of Tenerife should stay in Tenerife! It will not go to finance Catalonia, their projects, or debts. It will stay here!" she emphasized. And she warned that next year they will have to draw up such a plan again.
📣📣 Tenerife's money is for Tenerife! I will repeat this again and again. If necessary, we will develop a savings plan again, but we will not allow our money to go to pay off other people's debts. We have many problems here, people do not have enough money to last until their salary, there are not enough workers to care for the sick, children need scholarships for education. I do not agree that we should be punished for managing the island well and investing all the money in people. It is unfair when we are not allowed to spend our own money to invest in other regions where everything is already fine. As long as I head the island, I will not allow this! The money of the residents of Tenerife should work for them and for their land!
Rosa Dávila clearly stated: we will not allow the Spanish government to take our money and give it to Catalonia. I will be very persistent because it is unfair. I have already spoken about this when I was an advisor on finance, because we had problems, people did not have enough money, and we had extra money in our accounts.
The head of Tenerife believes that negotiating with different parties is good, but it is necessary to take into account the uniqueness of the Canary Islands and make the spending rules more flexible so that good management of the island benefits the residents of Tenerife.
"And we will not allow, and I, as long as I am president, will not allow the money of the residents of Tenerife to go to pay off the debt of the Catalans," she concluded.
Cristina Valido also noted that the Canarian Coalition wants the draft state budget to be presented in parliament so that it can be seen whether the promises regarding the Canary Islands are being fulfilled. There are many important issues that have not yet been resolved, such as the agreement on hydraulic works. The Tenerife council is forced to pay in advance for works that the island needs, and this money must be returned.
She also said that the road agreement needs to be reviewed to maintain the pace of construction and solve the problem of traffic jams on the roads.
The representative of the nationalists acknowledged that it will be difficult to maintain free travel on public transport. It will be a difficult struggle, as it has already been canceled throughout the country. But we will fight, because it is very important for mobility on the islands, where there are not so many alternatives due to the mountains and the large population.