The Plenary Session of the Cabildo of Lanzarote has initially and unanimously approved the regulatory bases of the new line of subsidies aimed at covering inter-island transport costs and, where applicable, accommodation for elderly people from Lanzarote and La Graciosa linked to Imserso trips, giving continuity to the file approved by the Governing Council.
After this initial approval, the document will be published in the Official Gazette of the Province of Las Palmas for its public information period. Once this procedure is completed and possible allegations are resolved, the bases will again be submitted to the Plenary Session for their definitive approval.
The president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Oswaldo Betancort, pointed out that “the initial approval of these bases corrects an objective situation of inequality. The elderly of Lanzarote and La Graciosa assumed an added cost to access a state program, and today the Cabildo gives them a regulated response so that they can cover that extra cost derived from double insularity.”
For her part, the Minister for the Elderly, Nori Machín, explained that “these rules address a real demand that Imserso users themselves had been conveying. The prior displacement was, in many cases, the main obstacle, and now a system is established that covers that expense directly once it has been incurred and justified.”
Equality of access and coverage of real expenses
The rules establish that residents of Lanzarote or La Graciosa may benefit with at least one year of registration, who are 65 years old, or 60 years old in the case of pensioners, and who have obtained a place in the Imserso program with departure from a capital island.
Among the eligible expenses are included air or maritime inter-island transport tickets, basic luggage and, when schedules require it, essential accommodation on the island of departure or return. The system is based on the subsequent justification of the expense, without advances, and aid will be granted in order of application until the available credit is exhausted, guaranteeing an agile and objective procedure.
