Appearance by the President of the Government of Spain in La Palma after the Pevolca meeting

La Palma (Canary Islands)

Good morning, first of all, thank you very much to the media for attending this press conference by the different institutions involved in the response to the volcano. First of all, I would like to thank the president of the Canary Islands, the president of the City Hall, the whole team of the La Palma City Hall and, of course, the Delegate of the Government and the whole team of the Government of the Canary Islands for the extraordinary work they are doing in such difficult and complex circumstances.

You know that throughout this week various ministers have been present here on the island of La Palma, including the First Vice-President, in this case the Vice-President for Economic Affairs, Vice-President Calviño. In short, what I want to convey is the Government of Spain's commitment to the fate of the island of La Palma, which, as Mariano and Ángel Víctor have said, will undoubtedly be one of hope, of hope, once this dramatic situation that we have been going through for more than a month has come to an end.

I would like to be very brief, what I would like to do first of all is to thank once again, and I will say this every time I have the opportunity, for the work of the technical services, the Scientific Committee, the Steering Committee, the Spanish public science, it seems to me that it is fundamental to vindicate the work of the professionals we have, the public servants we have who, fortunately, thanks to their advice, their wisdom, from the point of view of the public institutions, we can provide the best possible response.

Without a doubt, I believe that the fact that fortunately we do not have any lives lost is thanks to the work and contribution that the services, public servants and professionals are making.

Secondly, the Government of Spain and all the administrations should convey our full support to the citizens of La Palma with empathy. I take personal responsibility for the dramatic situation they are going through, what they are feeling, what they are suffering and I want to tell them not to fall into despair, not to give up hope, that the solidarity of the Spanish people as a whole is here on the island of La Palma, that the Government of Spain is here on La Palma and that we are going to be here each and every day that this crisis lasts and each and every day after the lava is over.

The government is going to be here, where it has to be, which is with all the people of La Palma, firstly to give a prompt response to the emergency we are experiencing, but secondly, as has been indicated, to the task of reconstruction, an enormous task that lies ahead of us.

The second thing I wanted to tell you is that we have been listening to the various ministerial departments this week to some questions that have been raised by some of the self-employed workers and various representatives of the people of La Palma.

And in this sense, I would like to announce two considerations: the first is that next Tuesday's Council of Ministers is going to make a budgetary modification to the contingency fund to speed up the arrival of resources, both from the employment plan, 63 million euros that was registered for the reconstruction of La Palma, and the aid from the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, which is 6.8 million euros for the very important sector on the island of La Palma.

Firstly, we are therefore going to approve a modification of the contingency fund to speed up the arrival of these economic resources from the employment plan and with the aid and assistance from the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries to the affected sectors.

And secondly, next Tuesday in the Council of Ministers we are going to approve a new social shield and in this we are going to incorporate an additional provision to correct the defects that the self-employed workers on the island of La Palma brought to our attention. And so all the demands that have been presented by this key group will be resolved as of next Tuesday in the Council of Ministers with the approval of this important measure.

These are the two issues I would like to bring to your attention and, finally, I would like to thank all the administrations for what we are doing. I believe that this example of unity, of working side by side, of all rowing in the same direction, is not only what the people of La Palma are asking for, but what the people of La Palma deserve, that we all work together, side by side, rowing in the same direction, so that this example of unity first of all conveys certainty, security, serenity, but above all that hope, and I am convinced that in these long days and these long nights, many people of La Palma will understand it. But as has been said here by both the president of the City Hall and the president of the Government of the Canary Islands, we are going to devote ourselves to the task of reconstruction while the emergency lasts and especially when the lava is over.

As I said at the beginning of my speech, the solidarity of the Spanish people is here today in La Palma. The Government of Spain is here today and will be here every day working with the City Hall, with the municipalities, with the Government of the Canary Islands to give this island the best of futures.

Finally, I would like to thank the media for their attention during this appearance, and I look forward to another visit to the island in the near future.

Thank you

(Transcript edited by the State Secretariat for Communication)
Non official translation