Government of Spain to promote agreements on employment, poverty, water, coasts and housing, and to invest 1.2 billion euros in roads in Canary Islands

Moncloa Palace, Madrid

This meeting forms part of a series of meetings being held by the President of the Government of Spain with the presidents of all the regional governments since he came to power.

The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, told Fernando Clavijo that the Government of Spain will invest 1.2 billion euros in roads in the Canary Islands. The two leaders also reached an out-of-court agreement under which the Central Government will pay 944 million euros to comply with the rulings handed down by the Supreme Court on the previous agreement.

They also agreed that the airport in Lanzarote should be named after the Canary Island artist, César Manrique, and to expedite the signing of various agreements between the two public authorities that remain pending. These agreements are related to issues of great importance for the people of the Canary Islands, such as roads, employment, the fight against poverty, water, coasts and housing. The State-Canary Islands Security Council will also meet shortly. This body has not met for several years and the President of the Regional Government of the Canary Islands will discuss related issues with the Minister for Home Affairs, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, on Thursday afternoon.

Employment and the fight against poverty

Pool Moncloa/Fernando CalvoIn terms of employment, the two public authorities signed an agreement on 11 October to create a subsidy for the Special Canary Islands Employment Plan, provided for under the 2018 General State Budget and amounting to 42 million euros. This agreement also includes 2 million euros for the Saulo Torón Education Institute to be spent on educational infrastructure improvements with a view to increasing training and thereby achieve greater labour market insertion for the population and greater productivity.

Furthermore, the President of the Government committed to an agreement before the end of the year to channel 30 million euros of subsidies from the Central Government to the Specific Plan to Combat Poverty in the Canary Islands, which will include another 600,000 euros for the Integrated Jinámar Plan in Telde, a socio-community rehabilitation and intervention programme aimed at improving the living conditions and opportunities afforded to the public in this municipality of the Canary Islands.

Release of investments in water, coasts and housing

An extension will also be signed for the agreement to undertake water-related actions in the period 2018-2021, worth 40 million euros. The partnership protocol will be ready in the first fortnight of November and an agreement will also be signed to fund sanitation investments in the Canary Islands worth 10 million euros.

In terms of coasts, scheduled investment by the Government of Spain in the Canary Islands amounts to 24 million euros, of which 2 million are allocated to work on the San Marcos Beach, 16 million to the Valleseco Beach and the remaining 6 million to an agreement that will be signed shortly between the two government bodies after an upcoming meeting to be held between representatives from the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the regional councillor in the first fortnight of November.

The housing plan was another of the issues discussed at the meeting. The Government of Spain will shortly sign the agreements needed to release the amounts earmarked in the 2018 and 2019 Budgets, amounting to close on 38 million euros for actions in Las Rehoyas, the El Marente region, Tinasoria and Becerril district.

Pedro Sánchez told Fernando Clavijo that it should be possible to complete the next wind power auction for wind and photovoltaic technology projects in non-mainland territories eligible for co-funding from European ERDF funds in the final four-month period of this year.

Non official translation