The President of the Government of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, insisted this Monday on demanding a salary increase in the tourism sector and thus "democratize the wealth" it generates, because "they are exploiting something that belongs to everyone: our sun, our landscape, our wonderful islands."
Precisely for that reason, tourism entrepreneurs "have to have co-responsibility", and in fact "they know perfectly well that they have to change", said Fernando Clavijo in statements to a Canarian radio station, collected by Efe.
He stated that "for the first time we all agree that we cannot continue like this, the political forces and the entire society", and considered it "important that society goes out and expresses its discomfort, because it is a wake-up call to everyone", in reference to the demonstrations called on April 20.
The President of the Canary Islands pointed out that tourism entrepreneurs "did not like" that he told them in the last edition of Fitur, last January, "that they have to raise the salaries of workers", words for which he has "received criticism."
"But tourism has to be aware that it is our main source of wealth, and being that way and earning a lot of money, they have to be responsible for that wealth having to be democratized and that it has to pull the rest of the sectors, because they are exploiting something that belongs to everyone," he reasoned.
"They don't like being told but I'm sorry. I'm not here to tell them what they want to hear. And that work has to be done. And for the first time we all agree that we cannot continue like this," reiterated the President of the Canary Islands.
He pointed out that the Government of the Canary Islands is responsible for "enabling the channels", hence the first call for the conference of presidents that he announced in the last debate on the state of the nation to discuss the demographic challenge.
And he stressed that this planning work "we have to do it together", because "the general plans are made by the city councils and the territorial plans, the island councils, and we all have to do this, and also all sectors.