The Mixed Commission on Insularity has approved this afternoon a motion by the Socialist Group to promote the declaration of Public Service Obligation (PSO) in the airlines of connection of the Canary Islands with the rest of the national territory. The PSOE initiative finally added 32 votes in favor and 3 abstentions.
The senator for Lanzarote, Manuel Fajardo, explained that the characteristics of outermost region and singularity of the Canary Islands must have special treatment and, in this sense, he emphasized connectivity.
“We intend, he assured, to continue working on the public service obligation between regular services because it is one of the most powerful tools to achieve real cohesion of unconnected territories.”
Fajardo stressed that “the prices of flights to the Canary Islands cannot be solely and exclusively under the economic criteria of the airlines”, and recalled that when the bonus to the Canary Islands was raised to 75%, all airlines increased prices immediately afterwards.
“We are not only talking about the rights that we Canarians should have in terms of equality in connectivity with the rest of the citizens of Spain, but also that they can travel to the islands at reasonable prices. It is not normal for a round trip to the Canary Islands to cost 800 euros,” he concluded.
At the end of the debate on the socialist motion, Manuel Fajardo expressed his disappointment at the vote of the autonomous senator of the Canarian Coalition, Pedro Manuel Sanginés Gutiérrez, who abstained along with the two members of VOX. Likewise, he expressed his surprise at the aforementioned senator's ignorance of the meeting held yesterday, Wednesday, by the Joint Commission of the central Government and the Government of the Canary Islands to monitor the PSOs.
