Canarias demands from the Government of Spain "an urgent response" to maintain the gratuity of transport

The Ministry of Public Works, Housing and Mobility of the Government of the Canary Islands, through the Directorate General of Transport and Mobility, headed by María Fernández, has demanded an urgent response from the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility that allows guaranteeing the free public land transport in the islands, and that expedites the resolution that regulates the justification procedure and settlement of these aids.

In the document, addressed to the Director General of Mobility Strategies, Lucía Martínez Rivero, the Canarian Executive conveys its concern about "the delay in the final approval of this resolution, which is essential to correctly complete the administrative process and guarantee the legal certainty of a measure that has represented a significant social advance for the Canarian citizens". 

The Director General of Transport and Mobility has pointed out that "the free public transport has been a measure of enormous social impact in the Canary Islands and we cannot allow administrative difficulties to end up putting its financial stability or the management capacity of the island councils at risk".

Fernández has insisted that "the Canary Islands have always acted with institutional collaboration, but we need legal and administrative certainty to correctly close the file within the established deadlines". Likewise, she has recalled that "the island councils are already bearing a significant economic effort to maintain this measure and cannot continue indefinitely assuming a situation of uncertainty".

The Government of the Canary Islands recalls that the new state resolution incorporates additional requirements that were not contemplated in the concession resolution approved on December 22, 2025, a circumstance that generates administrative uncertainty once the justification procedure has been initiated by the island councils. 

Likewise, the document sets out the uniqueness of the Canarian model for the management of land transport, decentralized among the seven island councils, which requires coordinating the collection and validation of documentation from multiple administrations and transport operators. This structure considerably increases the administrative burden compared to other territories of the State. 

In this regard, the Director General warns that the current scenario of uncertainty compromises the deadlines set for the justification of aid, the limit of which ends on September 30, 2026, also coinciding with other state procedures linked to public transport. Therefore, she requests that the final resolution be approved no later than May 31, 2026, considering it a "material limit" to avoid risks to the state financing of the measure. 

“The success of this measure is beyond doubt. Thousands of Canarians use public transport every day thanks to this subsidy, and our goal is to ensure that it can continue to be developed normally and safely for all administrations involved,” added Fernández.

Fernández also emphasizes that the island councils are currently making a significant financial effort to sustain the free public transport, advancing their own resources while the state procedure is resolved and bearing costs that, in many cases, exceed the planned financing. “Furthermore, to date, there are still no credits enabled by the State to cover the payments of the 42 million corresponding to 2025, nor funds for 2026.”

Finally, the Government of the Canary Islands reiterates its willingness to maintain a relationship of loyal cooperation with the Ministry and calls for the procedure to be resolved with the utmost speed to guarantee the stability of the public transport system and the continuity of a measure that has shown broad citizen support.