The Socialist Parliamentary Group visited the island of Lanzarote this Thursday as part of the political agenda it is carrying out to learn about the needs of the social and business sectors of the Canary Islands, as well as to have a presence in the territory of all the islands, through meetings and encounters with different entities, companies and associations, where the socialist spokesperson, Sebastián Franquis, denounced the “lack of management” of Fernando Clavijo's Government not only in Lanzarote, but throughout the Canary Islands. “Clavijo has spent the entire legislature hiding his lack of management behind immigration.”
The Socialist Parliamentary Group held a working meeting together with the general secretary of the PSOE of Lanzarote, Dolores Corujo, where the work of the Socialist Party on the island and the progress made from the Parliament of the Canary Islands through the socialist deputies was detailed.
Franquis denounced that the president of the Canarian Government, Fernando Clavijo, has spent the entire legislature hiding his “inaction” and lack of management behind immigration, “using it as a smokescreen to divert attention from his shortcomings, which shows not only an alarming absence of leadership, but also an attempt to instrumentalize a complex problem to do politics for his own benefit.”
For the socialist spokesperson, an example is that everything that does not have to do with the CC and PP Government of Clavijo improves, and thanks to this, the Canary Islands enjoys a favorable economic outlook, with economic growth that exceeds the national average, a constant reduction in unemployment and record figures for employment and affiliation to Social Security.
“These achievements are a direct result of the reforms promoted by the socialists from the government of Spain, which have prioritized promoting economic activity while protecting and expanding labor rights. We have worked to guarantee decent pensions, strengthen social benefits and strengthen public services.”
On the contrary, Franquis stated that everything that is the responsibility of the Clavijo Government worsens, such as the waiting list for dependency, which has increased in the last year by 4,360 people, and which currently has 17,374 dependent people waiting for their right, in addition to having a health system in a “critical situation that is bleeding out.”
The socialist spokesperson asked Clavijo to "show his face" and to start talking about his powers, "about what really worries the citizens of the Canary Islands", such as health, which in the last two years has regressed “very significantly”, or dependency, whose data is “scandalous”, or education and housing, and not so much immigration. In his opinion, the Canary Islands are worse than two years ago, and what Clavijo and his Government should do is take measures to achieve a better redistribution of wealth. “Today in the Canary Islands, the rich are richer and the poor are poorer.”
In addition, he warned of the housing situation on the islands, and recalled that the only homes that will be built in this legislature correspond to the Housing Plan of the Government of the Pact of Flowers. “None of those who took the photo at the beginning of the construction of the new homes have anything to do with the 221 homes that are being built in Arrecife. What they have done is leave housing policy in the hands of speculators.”
“The Canarian health system is in a critical situation due to the lack of resources, inefficient management and an evident disconnection between public policies and the needs of citizens. Without profound and urgent changes, the system will continue to bleed out,” added Franquis.
In this sense, he pointed out the lack of professionals and deterioration of services; the saturation of emergencies and unsustainable waiting lists, in addition to a Primary Care in ruins and insufficient management and budgets.
An island that “agonizes”
For her part, the general secretary of the PSOE in Lanzarote, Dolores Corujo, denounced that the island “has once again been humiliated” by the Canarian Government in the General Budgets of the Canary Islands for 2025, where the island is in the penultimate place in terms of financing, and described the declaration of Water Emergency on the island as an “occurrence and mockery” “while they have authorized five more hotel licenses.”
For Corujo, both the Government of the Canary Islands and the Cabildo of Lanzarote are showing their “unsustainable” model for the island while demanding responsibility from the citizens. “A model that will only bring inequality and that will completely break the territorial model of the island.”
“Yes, they declare the housing emergency, causing Lanzarote to have 78% more vacation homes since they announced their regulation. Lanzarote is agonizing, it has gotten out of hand, and, therefore, we need the activity, the action and the policy that is being carried out from the Socialist Parliamentary Group. A situation that is no longer worrying, but has become alarming,” she warned.
