The Parliament of the Canary Islands approved this Thursday, with the support of all the political groups represented in the Chamber except for the abstention of VOX, the consideration of the Law proposal presented by the Association of Tourist Municipalities of the Canary Islands (AMTC) to define a specific organization model for them.
The voting closed with 62 votes in favor and three abstentions. The speaker of this legislative initiative and mayor of San Bartolomé de Tirajana, Marco Aurelio Pérez, recalled that the aim is to "allow greater organization, which provides more capacity to face current tourist challenges".
Also present in the debate were the president of the AMTC and mayor of Adeje, José Miguel Rodríguez Fraga; the vice president and mayor of Mogán, Onalia Bueno, as well as the mayor of Santiago del Teide, Emilio Navarro; the mayor of Puerto de la Cruz, Leopoldo Afonso, and the mayor of La Oliva, Isaí Blanco.
Pérez emphasized that the law proposal arises after the consensus of all the plenary sessions of the City Councils that govern the tourist municipalities, "regardless of their political color," he added.
In addition, he stressed that it is the first time that the municipal corporations of the islands have presented a law proposal, making use of article 44.3 of the Statute of Autonomy of the Canary Islands, which states "when acting in groups (...) and representing the percentage of population and the number of municipalities determined in the Parliament's Regulations, they may exercise legislative initiative".
"The law proposal is a felt need in the tourist municipalities of the Canary Islands, since only Madrid and Barcelona surpass the archipelago in the number of tourists," he said.
"No one can deny that it is not the same to offer the entire catalog of public services to the local population as to a floating population that multiplies the number of residents by four."
"Only through this law can we meet the needs of the islands' main economic engine," he added.
Finally, Marco Aurelio Pérez described this debate in Parliament as "an exercise of democratic values" and "a novel procedure that brings the municipality to the Autonomous Chamber."
As one of the important aspects, it should be noted that the law proposal contemplates the possibility that the green islands have a special status to be able to frame their activity within the Law of Tourist Municipalities.
After the intervention of Marco Aurelio Pérez, the turn of the parliamentary groups began.
The deputy of the Canarian Socialist Group, Lucía Fuentes, valued that the text includes special conditions for the tourist municipalities of the Green Islands, since, for example, "they will hardly be able to comply with the criterion of the number of tourist beds."
The deputy of the Canarian Nationalist Group, Mario Cabrera, expressed that the debate on this Law proposal comes at a crucial moment for the archipelago's main industry. "This proposed regulation obliges us to modify the laws to adapt them to real demands."
From the Popular Parliamentary Group, David Morales alluded to the fact that this regulation should have been applied 30 years ago, so he confirmed the support of his formation.
The deputy of Nueva Canarias, Natalia Santana, ratified that "tourism is the backbone of our economy, so bringing this Law proposal to Parliament is an essential step" to guarantee the future of the sector.
In that same line, the parliamentarian of the Gomera Socialist Association (ASG), Jesús Machín, stated that "we have a debt" with these localities "and it must be remedied."
In addition, he acknowledged that they experience an "overload" compared to the rest of the Canarian municipalities.
For his part, the deputy of the Independent Herreña Association (AHI), Raúl Acosta, stressed that "there are plenty of reasons to consider the specificities of the tourist municipalities in the law," he said.
Only VOX, through its deputy Paula Jóver, abstained from the consideration of the legislative proposal, despite ensuring that "the Canary Islands are late in the application of a specific law for tourist municipalities," despite which confirmed the abstention of his parliamentary group."
After this step and until its final approval, it will have to be submitted to the report of the Advisory Council of the Canary Islands, the Commission of Municipalities and the Commission of Cabildos.