The Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, José Luis Escrivá, announced this Thursday during his visit to the islands that some 6,000 Canary Island households will begin to receive the Minimum Basic Income from this month. "And we want to go further in the coming months. The IMV is an instrument that is here to stay and it should be designed as well as possible so that it fully reaches all the homes that need it,” he added during the press conference he offered after holding an initial meeting with the Canary Islands Government.
In addition, Escrivá also assured that the ERTEs could be extended again beyond January 31 "if the economic situation generated by the pandemic requires it." In this regard, the minister assured that the central government “has always been aware” of the singularities of the Islands due to the weight of tourism. “That is why,” he said, “the ERTEs are a flexible instrument that can be adapted to the evolution of COVID-19.”
According to data from the Ministry, the Canary Islands had 230,000 people in ERTE during the worst stage of confinement and still maintains about 83,000. This means that 13% of the employed population is still under the protection of this mechanism, while 65% have returned to their activity, a percentage “much lower” than the rest of the country. In fact, the Islands, together with the Balearic Islands, are the autonomous community with the greatest weight of ERTEs.
The president of the Canary Islands Government, Ángel Víctor Torres, also highlighted that the royal decree-law of last June on ERTEs included an express additional provision on the Canary Islands and that, in this renewal until January 31, “all the requests of the Canary Islands Labor Relations Council” have been met. Among others, that 70% of the regulatory base be maintained as a benefit, that the inactive from affected sectors and temporary employees enter, that everything be done through the work centers and that the affections due to outbreaks of cases have 100% coverage” in the first month. “
Escrivá began a three-day visit to the Canary Islands this Thursday, focused mainly on migration after the increase in the arrival of boats. However, the first meeting held in Tenerife also allowed addressing other economic aspects. Along with the minister and the president of the Canary Islands, the Government Delegate in the Canary Islands, Anselmo Pestana; the regional vice president, Román Rodríguez; the Minister of Economy, Elena Máñez; the Minister of Tourism, Yaiza Castilla, and representatives of CEOE-Tenerife (José Carlos Francisco), CCE (José Cristóbal García), Ashotel (Jorge Marichal), FEHT (José María Mañaricúa), Asolan (Susana Pérez), Asofuer (Antonio Hormiga), UGT (Francisco Bautista) and CCOO (Inocencio López) attended the meeting.
This Friday, Ángel Víctor Torres is scheduled to meet with Escrivá again to address the migration situation in more depth. After the first meeting, the regional Executive indicates that the minister stressed the “enormous effort that this Government is making to face the exceptional situation that the Canary Islands is experiencing at this time”, although “he is aware that more resources will be needed and he promised to work on a more stable reception network.”
