The Independent Authority for Fiscal Responsibility (AIReF), suggested this year abandoning the formula of rewarding 75% of each air or sea ticket, replacing it by setting a fixed amount depending on the route and the price of the ticket.
On this matter, the Minister of Tourism and Employment of the Government of the Canary Islands, Jéssica de León has been blunt: “The 75% is not touched, it is a right, for that we are recognized this differential fact in the Constitution, in the Statute of Autonomy and in the REF”.
"I neither understand nor share the criticisms of the bonus system,” said the minister. “The Canary Islands has a differential fact with the rest of the peninsula and that is that we are far from the continental platform. That 75% brings us closer as citizens to the Peninsula, but also to the rest of the islands, where many Canarians do not travel on vacation, but to heal. It is not a matter of markets, but social”, she concludes.
In its evaluation report, Airef argued that since its entry into force, the 75% bonus has produced an increase in public spending of 125%, and a price increase of 12%.
The report also noted that the subsidy has a "very unbalanced" distribution among the population. Among other things, because half of the residents do not fly and those who fly the most accumulate most of the subsidy.