The Board of the Parliament of the Canary Islands, formed by PP, CC and PSOE, has not attended to a formal request presented through its transparency portal to replace the information on the collection of attendance fees by the deputies, which it kept accessible from January 2017 until it was removed last November.
The information was withdrawn by the Board of Parliament after the publication of information from the EFE Agency that reflected that deputies had started to charge 131% more in September 2024, in relation to a year earlier.
Apart from their salary, they went from receiving 904 euros per month each for attending parliamentary sessions to 2,088 euros, as a result of the increase in compensation agreed by the Board.
The monthly income from allowances of each deputy was public since January 2017, when Carolina Darias (PSOE) was president of the Parliament, and the information remained open and updated with her successor, Gustavo Matos (PSOE), as well as in the first year of this legislature, but has been eliminated in the second year of Astrid Pérez's mandate (PP).
According to the latest data published by the Parliament, corresponding to the month of September 2024, the president of the Parliament, Astrid Pérez (PP) had received that month in respect of allowances 6,586.67 euros; the first vice-president, Ana Oramas (CC), 3,470.50; the second vice-president, Gustavo Matos (PSOE), 3,710.50; the first secretary, Mario Cabrera (CC), 3,999.50; and the second secretary, Patricia Hernández (PSOE), 3,626.50.
As for the spokespersons of the parliamentary groups, Raúl Acosta (Mixed group) received 5,336.50 euros that month in respect of attendance allowances; Nicasio Galván (Vox), 4,130.50; José Miguel Barragán (CC), 4,046.50; Luis Campos (NC-BC), 4,046.50; Sebastián Franquis (PSOE), 3,700.50; Luz Reverón (PP), 3,626.50; and Casimiro Curbelo (ASG), 3,115.50.
This information and all historical data since 2017 were removed from the website because, according to Parliament, an "update" was necessary due to "errors" detected in the figures provided by the Chamber itself, which apparently consisted of the fact that the figures accrued did not correspond to those settled.
After concluding the "update" process, the Parliament of the Canary Islands did not report what the "errors" were and kept hidden the information on the monthly allowances of each deputy, as well as the historical information, and since then it has limited itself to giving general information on the "system of remuneration and compensation of the members of the chamber".
Faced with this situation, a journalist from the EFE Agency submitted a request through the transparency portal requesting the replacement of the updated and individualised information on allowances for each deputy as published until November.
Failing that, the applicant requested that the same information be sent to him personally, in order to keep public opinion periodically informed about the income received by their representatives in the exercise of their functions.
In its response to this request, dated 20 February, the Board of Parliament does not mention the possibility of replacing the information requested and refers to the general information on the "system of remuneration and compensation of the members of the chamber", the same as already appeared on its website.
In addition, it invites the applicant to consult on his own, in the link for each of the 70 deputies on the website, the sessions they attend.
The Law on Transparency and Access to Public Function of the Canary Islands obliges public administrations to provide information "in a clear and understandable manner" and without any limitation other than those established by law.
In its internal regulations on the application of the Transparency Law, the Parliament of the Canary Islands undertakes to publicise information relating to its activity in an "active" manner, as well as to publish it "in a clear, structured and understandable manner for interested persons and, preferably, in reusable formats".
In case of disagreement with the response of the Parliament of the Canary Islands, the Transparency Law prevents appealing to the Transparency Commissioner and only leaves open the contentious-administrative route.
