The president of the Canary Islands Government, Ángel Víctor Torres, has announced that the Canary Islands will assume powers in the area of coasts starting this summer, after a meeting held this Tuesday in Madrid with the Minister of Territorial Policy and Public Function, Miquel Iceta.
After that meeting, the regional president appeared before the media and announced "the good news" that before the summer, preferably in June, the Canary Islands-State Bilateral Cooperation Commission will be held in the Canary Islands - which includes the Joint Transfer Commission - where the official transfer of powers in the management and planning of the coastline will take place, "an old demand of the Archipelago" that is included in the new Statute of Autonomy of the Canary Islands, in force since November 6, 2018.
Likewise, the meeting addressed the transfer of financial guardianship and the promotion of market competition, two powers whose transfer had already begun. In this regard, President Torres has announced that protocols will be signed by the Government of Spain and the Government of the Canary Islands in order to establish the necessary resources and means to make the transfer of these powers to the Autonomous Community viable, and to solve difficulties such as those presented, for example, by financial guardianship "in the face of the possibility that fiscal rules may be suspended, or not, in the coming years."
Migration policy
In his meeting with the Minister of Territorial Policy and Public Function, Ángel Víctor Torres conveyed the migratory reality that exists in the Canary Islands and, in particular, the situation of migrant children. Torres explained that there are currently more than 2,600 migrant children under the guardianship of the Government of the Canary Islands, "something that had never happened before, not even in 2006 with the cayuco crisis, when 500 children arrived in the Islands despite the fact that more people reached the coast than in the current crisis."
The head of the regional Executive considers it necessary to adapt the legislative framework to the current situation, since the law on the protection of minors was created to provide care for minors registered in each autonomous community and not for minors who arrive irregularly "with this volume", as the president pointed out.
In this sense, Ángel Víctor Torres has stated that the minister has committed to studying a legislative amendment and to activating formulas so that the migratory reality is shared with the other autonomous communities.
Amendment of the Basic Statute of Public Employees
The teams of the Presidency of the Government of the Canary Islands and the Ministry of Territorial Policy and Public Function also addressed the problem faced by temporary employees of the Public Administration, who in many cases end up chaining contracts for 20 years.
Ángel Víctor Torres raised the need to find consensus mechanisms that respond to the expectations of workers who are in this situation.
In that sense, Torres stressed that the minister has committed to carrying out, in the coming months, an amendment to the Basic Statute of Employees, which is also being worked on with the autonomous communities.
Finally, Ángel Víctor Torres thanked Miquel Iceta and his team for holding this meeting - the first held by the Minister of Territorial Policy with a president of an autonomous community - which "has been very satisfactory."
