canary islands airport management demand

Canary Islands demands role in airport management from Spain

Canary Islands calls for a share in airport management

The Canary Islands government has made its position clear: “If the Spanish government is incapable of mustering enough support to keep managing vital affairs, Pedro Sánchez should consider stepping aside or submitting to a confidence vote.” That was the message delivered on Monday by Alfonso Cabello, the regional vice-councillor for the Presidency and government spokesman, at the press conference following the regional cabinet meeting. His criticism extended to Sánchez’s role across the country as a whole, arguing that he “has entered a downward spiral and is unable to respond to the nation’s needs despite the challenges on the table.” The failure to pass the General State Budgets is one of the factors limiting the central government’s ability to act, he said.

Despite this climate of political weakness, the Canary Islands’ demands remain unchanged. The regional government wants to see the fine print of the agreements reached between the Spanish state and the Basque Country and Catalonia on airport ‘management’. To that end, it will send a letter to the state this Tuesday with a specific request: to advance the Autonomous Community’s claim for a role in the co-governance (or even co-management) of the Canary Islands’ airports. The islands’ president, Fernando Clavijo, has already met with the Lehendakari, Imanol Pradales, to learn “first-hand” the terms of the agreement reached with the state on airport matters.

Strategic importance of the archipelago’s airports

The regional government insists that details are still needed on how that model could be adapted to the Canary Islands. The claim is particularly significant because of the archipelago’s unique characteristics and the strategic importance of its airports for territorial connectivity. In this context, Cabello stressed that Article 161 of the Statute of Autonomy provides for the Community’s participation in the management of airport infrastructure – a framework that could open the door to greater involvement for the Canary Islands in decisions about its airports. “We believe that, in the case of the Islands, we can go a step further in terms of participation and the binding nature of some reports,” the spokesman said.

Tax oversight and coastal transfers

The same letter that the Canary Islands government is sending to the state will also include a demand relating to the management of revenue from the Economic and Fiscal Regime (REF). Cabello reported that the government has received no response to its previous request, which called for progress towards a framework of greater regional participation and oversight of the management of tax incentives under the REF. “We still haven’t received a reply and we will take the opportunity to reiterate the need for that information,” he said. On the issue of coastal transfers, Cabello demanded that the powers “be made effective”.

“We should stop finding out about these matters through the media and start receiving the documentation so we can make the proper assessments,” he criticised. The government rejects a merely regulatory modification, arguing that it does not meet the archipelago’s demands. The state’s intention to address possible changes to the Coastal Law through a regulatory reform is, in the government’s view, insufficient. That approach “falls short of the needs that Europe has communicated to the state government and that several autonomous communities, including ours, have also conveyed,” the spokesman said.

Concern over the central government’s weakness

In this context, the Canary Islands government argues that the appropriate route requires a modification of the law itself, while expressing concern about the state’s difficulties in pushing through major legislative reforms. “That leads us to worry about the weakness of the state government when it comes to passing important legal texts for the Canary Islands,” Cabello said, adding that “what we are calling for is progress in self-government without allowing the political noise from the rest of the country to distract us from the Canary Islands government’s objective.”

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