The Minister of Public Works, Housing and Mobility of the Government of the Canary Islands, Pablo Rodríguez, has insisted today in the Parliament of the Canary Islands that the regional Executive will continue to defend the importance of extending the free bus service, and has highlighted that the General Directorate of Transport has once again sent a letter to the Ministry reminding them that "the contribution made to the islands is specific and cannot be compared to that implemented in the rest of the territory".
“From the Government of the Canary Islands we are doing everything necessary to ensure that this bonus is maintained. Our position is firm, and we will continue to do everything necessary to prevent this measure, which has greatly benefited the people of the Canary Islands, from being extended for another year,” Rodríguez detailed.
In this line, the Minister recalled that the free service has led to a 44% growth in the number of travelers, an 8% increase in employment in the sector and a 5% increase in the fleet. “This success is not only a matter of numbers, but a reflection of the positive impact that this policy has had on the daily lives of the people of the Canary Islands, facilitating more accessible, efficient and sustainable mobility,” the Minister pointed out.
They demand "adequate funding to cover its real cost"
Likewise, Rodríguez explained that the Executive is aware that “our reality is very different from the reality of public transport in the peninsular territory, since here, public mobility options by land are limited to buses and trams, without trains or commuter trains, which in the peninsula were subsidized by the State from the beginning.”
“We will continue to demand not only the extension of the measure for next year, but also that it has an adequate budget allocation to cover its real cost, updating the value of this contribution to the increase in the number of passengers,” Rodríguez insisted.
The General Directorate of Transport, headed by María Fernández, has sent up to three formal communications to the Ministry of Transport to demand clarity on this issue. Likewise, in February 2024, an economic study was also sent demonstrating that the assigned allocation of 81 million euros was insufficient to cover the real needs of transport in the Canary Islands.
In July 2024, a new letter was sent, signed by the seven island councils, insisting on the positive impact of this bonus on the lives of the people of the Canary Islands and requesting that the allocation for it fully correspond to the real cost involved in its application.
