The Government of the Canary Islands (CC and PP), regional parliamentary groups except Vox, third sector entities, island councils and municipalities have agreed this Monday to maintain a "single voice" on immigration matters that insists on the reform of article 35 of the Immigration Law in view of the conference of presidents next Friday.
"We have legitimate differences and different perspectives, but on the 13th we will speak with one voice at the conference of presidents. Given the magnitude of the challenge and the situation of solitude and helplessness of the Canary Islands, I will be able to speak with one voice to claim the best interests of the child and a coordinated action of public administrations," said the president of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo.
He did so after meeting with the groups involved at the headquarters of the Presidency of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, where Clavijo made a statement without questions of less than a minute in which he thanked the members of the pact for their willingness to agree.
In statements to the media, opposition spokespersons have criticized the position maintained by the Popular Party at the national level after the failure last Thursday of the last meeting to reform the Immigration Law and have accused the party led by Núñez Feijóo of seeking new obstacles every time there is some consensus.
In these terms, the socialist spokesman, Sebastián Franquis, expressed himself, who asked the Canarian president, Fernando Clavijo, to "assume his responsibility as president and lead", because, in the opinion of the PSOE deputy, Clavijo is more concerned with "defending his government and his partners than the interests of the autonomous community."
"The Canary Islands needed an explanation from the president of the Government of the Canary Islands after what happened on Thursday and he has been absolutely missing in these last four days," Franquis argued in relation to the negotiation meeting last Thursday held between the Government of Spain, the Canary Islands and the Popular Party.
Franquis, who recalled that this situation of blocking the reform has lasted for almost a year, also lamented the "rough discourse" of the Popular Party both during the negotiations and in the press conference after the meeting on Thursday, and said that "no one can imagine" that they have that discourse if what happens in the Canary Islands happened in Madrid, Andalusia or the Valencian Community, where the PP governs.
"But with the Canary Islands they do and they vote against the interests of the islands," he added.
The spokesman for Nueva Canarias, Luis Campos, said that "they will never give up on the task of modifying article 35 no matter what it costs" and expressed that not everyone has the same responsibility for the failure, because it is not the same "who gets up from the negotiation", referring to the PP, than those who remain.
Likewise, he recalled that the holding of a conference of presidents was one of the first requests of the Popular Party as a requirement to access the reform "and now it is to change the law as a whole and before a sectoral conference that was also held," Campos said ironically.
"We have all concluded for some time that the only solution is to modify article 35 of the Immigration Law and ensure that the solidarity of all territories is mandatory," he stressed.
On behalf of Coalición Canaria, José Miguel Barragán assured that what was found after the meeting last Thursday is that the Popular Party "has not lived up to expectations."
"We want to say it loud and clear. The Popular Party has not lived up to expectations in that meeting, but we are not throwing in the towel. Those of us who have negotiated on many occasions know that agreements are not always reached the first, second or third time and we are going to continue to insist," the nationalist spokesman summarized.
He also warned that if an agreement is not reached on the 13th and the autonomous communities do not make the effort, his party's intention is to seek "another different plan" to the one they have proposed so far.
"If from the 13th the path traveled so far is not enough, the Canarian pact, not the government pact but the migratory pact, should reflect on what other options we should put on the table," he summarized.
From the Popular Party, Luz Reverón assured that during the negotiations with the Government of Spain and the Canary Islands, the PSOE has been "intransigent", since the national Government "has rejected all the measures" that her party has proposed.
For the Gomera Socialist Group, Casimiro Curbelo expressed that although he wants to be "optimistic", he has the impression that a new failure of the negotiations to modify the Immigration Law will occur again at the conference of presidents, a fact that would force to look for "another scenario."
The spokesman for the Agrupación Herreña Independiente, Raúl Acosta, said that the successive failures in the negotiations show that "the Canary Islands do not matter."
