During his speech at the Socio-Cultural Center of La Graciosa, the President of the Canary Islands Executive highlighted the important role that Coalición Canaria has played in the islands, "for the development of an Archipelago that seemed forgotten".
"Coalición Canaria has managed to provide services to different territories in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, which seemed enormous and almost insurmountable to us just 10 years ago. We have managed to convince Europe of the strategic role that the Canary Islands should play, and of the problems of our islands as ultra-peripheral regions, and that, other political forces with more, supposedly, history than Coalición Canaria, have never achieved. We have had to be the men and women of Coalición Canaria who have had to put the dots and the accents, to demonstrate that the Islands did not have it easy without help. And we did it," said Martín.
The nationalist affirmed that the Canary Islands, at present, has a specific weight within the European Union thanks to the work developed by Coalición Canaria, in such important issues as transport. "We went to Europe to try to convince them that the Canary Islands needed aid to be able to reach the European continent without having to pay much more than the rest of the citizens of the continent. First they told us no, but Coalición Canaria continued working until they managed to get Europe to see the real problem that the Canary Islands had before them. Significant additional costs, well above the rest, a very remote territory, a fragmented territory. Then we got it," said Martín.
But, according to the President of the Canary Islands Government, "we continue working to ensure that Europe not only sees the problem of transport between the Canary Islands and Europe. We also wanted aid for transport between the islands. The rest of the country, to move from one side of its Autonomous Community to another, does not have to spend anything. But a Canary Islander from Lanzarote, to go to Gran Canaria, does. And we could not allow that, at least with the situation at that time with costs that we believed were excessively high. And so we managed to get Europe to subsidize transport between the islands. First with 33%, until reaching, today, 50%".
Martín highlighted that in this legislature, "the one that marks my retirement from Canarian politics", he has managed to have La Graciosa included in the scale made by Europe, benefiting from aid to transport between the islands.
"The Government of the Canary Islands is aware of the problems that La Graciosa has. That is why we have launched the necessary projects to, for example, solve one of the biggest problems such as the recycling of garbage and respect for the environment".
Adán Martín announced to the residents of La Graciosa the signing of a document that will allow the constitution of a Consortium for the island, "which establishes the priorities to make La Graciosa one more island, with essential services such as wastewater, sanitation, the treatment plant, and a long etcetera".
According to Martín, "we have managed to visualize the island, from a budgetary point of view, so that the Consortium project does not remain a simple signed paper and that's it. We have worked to take that document to the Government and Parliament to be able to approve it, and today it is already a reality. We have a budget granted, specifically for La Graciosa, contemplating the great services that we must give to the inhabitants, such as health services, education, among many others".
The president of the Canary Islands Government concluded by saying that "Coalición Canaria has shown that it has a political project that commits it to the Canary Islands and the Canarians, and projects such as the Consortium are what demonstrate our intentions. For and for the people. For and for all of us. That is why I firmly believe that Coalición Canaria should continue to be the project that leads the Canary Islands, with a fixed course. Towards a much better future for all".
Martín asked for the support of all the residents of La Graciosa for the continuity of the Coalición Canaria project in the Government, in the Cabildo of Lanzarote and in the Teguise City Council.
