The island secretary of the Canarian Coalition in Lanzarote, Migdalia Machín, and the secretary of National Organization of the Canarian Coalition, David Toledo, have explained this Tuesday in statements to the media, the reasons that have led the nationalists to support the General State Budget after having stated last September that they would not.
“We announced that we were not going to support them because they did not comply with the Canary Islands, there were no items to improve the quality of life of the citizens of our islands. After this announcement, a negotiation period opened in which the Socialist Party called us to try to negotiate and reverse the situation, and we have to say with satisfaction that we have managed to incorporate 21 amendments, which were the ones that had to be included yes or yes because above all, for us, are the interests of the Canary Islands”, said David Toledo.
Some amendments that, as specified by the nationalist leader, focus mainly on the free public transport (buses and trams), the 60% deduction of personal income tax for La Palma in the years 2022 and 2023, the revision and updating of the type costs of transport, which have not been updated since 2019 and which will result in a cheaper shopping basket, and the bonus in the transport of bananas of more than 20 million euros.
For her part, and focusing on the free public transport, Migdalia Machín recalled that before the announcement made by the State Government that it was going to subsidize it one hundred percent in the peninsula, forgetting about the Canary Islands, the Cabildo of Lanzarote instead of claiming the same treatment, what it did was provide the money so that the people of Lanzarote could also benefit from some type of aid.
“So what the president of the Cabildo has to do now is to demand that the State return to the people of Lanzarote the money that we advanced or that was used as a subsidy”, Machín stressed.
Both the island secretary of CC and the national secretary of Organization have thanked the work of the two deputies of the Canarian Coalition, Ana Oramas and María Fernandez, and have stressed that “despite the fact that they called us everything for demanding the same treatment as the rest of the Communities, we have achieved it. This shows how important it is to have representation in Madrid, with two deputies and a senator. And the more representatives of CC we have, the more we can achieve for our land, because we are not submissive to any state party”.
Finally, the nationalists have assured that CC will continue working and monitoring “so that even the last euro that has been included in the financial file in the General State Budget for the Canary Islands is fulfilled”.
Amendments incorporated to the PGE for 2023
- New Additional Provision. Modification of art. 68.4 of Law 35/2006 of personal income tax to extend the deductions enjoyed by residents in Ceuta and Melilla to those of the island of La Palma, with effects for the Income Tax Return of Individuals corresponding to the year 2022 and 2023.
- New section to ANNEX II Extendable Credits of art. 11 of the LPGE 2023. Extendable items are added to guarantee coverage of the policies included in the REF of the Canary Islands for the transport of bananas.
- New Additional Provisions. To compensate for the effective and real cost of transporting goods, including the transport of bananas and the advance thereof.
- New Additional Provision. Free Transport by Bus in the Canary Islands. As of January 1, 2023, 100% of the price of season tickets and multi-trip tickets on integrated land island transport in the Canary Islands, as well as on the Tenerife tram, will be subsidized, compensating the CA of the Canary Islands through the credits provided for in this Law.
- Transport of Canary Bananas. Program 441P includes 10 million euros destined for the “transport of Canary bananas.” Since this amount is insufficient to cover 100% of the effective cost of transport, it is modified to reach 20 million euros.
- To the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands for aid to reduce the price of season tickets and multi-trip tickets on buses and trams (81 million euros).
- Specific agreement with the CA for mental health care on the island of La Palma derived from the volcano (1.5 million euros)
- La Palma Reconstruction Fund (100 million euros).
- Special Employment Plan for the Canary Islands (Educational Infrastructures) - REF (1,000,000 euros).
- Study grants for Canarian Vocational Training Students who do not find the educational offer they demand on their island of residence - REF (1,000,000 euros).
- Travel grants for Canarian Vocational Training students who carry out internships in peninsular companies or in any Member State of the European Union - REF (1,000,000 euros).
- Compensation for remoteness surcharges for vocational training and education mobility programs in the Canary Islands - REF (1,000,000 euros).
- Agreement for the internationalization of the economy of the Canary Islands - REF (500,000 euros).
- Subsidy for waste transport between islands - REF (1,000,000 euros).
- To the University Institute of Tropical Diseases and Public Health of the Canary Islands for research, development and innovation in the fields of tropical diseases and public health - REF (250,000 euros).
- To the CA of the Canary Islands Digital Agenda - Extension of Broadband in the Canary Islands - REF (1,000,000 euros).
- To the CSIC for the Institute of Natural Products and Agrobiology (IPNA)
- REF (250,000 euros).
- Research and Cooperation Program for Universities established in the Canary Islands - REF (1,000,000 euros).
- Promotion of research Public Universities Canary Islands - REF (500,000 euros).
- Scholarships and aid for training, improvement and mobility of teachers including payment of insurance premiums for scholarship holders - REF (1,000,000 euros).
- Modification of the fifth final provision, section Two (modification of art. 44 of the REF). Extension of tax benefits to intangibles (computer applications, industrial property rights and intellectual property rights): geographical scope of application, increase of 30% in expenses in the calculation of the tax base and, for income obtained in excess, the possibility of applying the special tax rate if jobs are created – REF (under negotiation).