Nueva Canarias-Canarista Bloc (NC-BC) in Teguise has regretted the rejection by the governing group of CC, PP and the former VOX councilor of its proposal aimed at alleviating the so-called “food deserts” in the municipality, a reality that especially affects elderly people residing in rural areas.
The party considers it worrying that the arguments put forward to vote against have been based on appeals to the “free market” or on accusations of “alarmism”, evidencing -in its opinion- a worrying lack of knowledge of the real situation that many residents of the municipality live.
In this regard, the Canarian councilman Fernando Jiménez has criticized that the governing group has even gone so far as to question the very concept of “food desert,” when it is a technical denomination recognized and used by international organizations to describe areas where the population has difficulties accessing fresh and healthy foods.
"The reality is clear, in the municipality of Teguise there are hundreds of elderly people who cannot regularly access fresh food due to the lack of adequate transport and the absence of shops in their villages," points out Jiménez. "Denying this situation does not make it disappear; on the contrary, it aggravates it."
NC-BC defends that public institutions cannot remain passive waiting for the market to decide where it is profitable to guarantee access to food. “Access to fresh and quality food cannot depend exclusively on economic criteria. Administrations have the responsibility and capacity to intervene to improve the lives of citizens,” they emphasize.
Along these lines, Fernando Jiménez recalls that there are multiple mechanisms from the municipal sphere to act against this problem. Among the proposed measures, the promotion of itinerant markets in collaboration with agricultural cooperatives stands out, the promotion of agreements with food retailers to ensure that their home delivery shopping services reach all the villages in the municipality, as well as the implementation of tax incentives that facilitate the opening of small businesses in the most affected areas.
Finally, from NC-BC they have reiterated their commitment to continue working to make this reality visible and promote concrete solutions that guarantee equal access to food throughout the municipality of Teguise.
Delegated Councilorship for La Graciosa
Likewise, it should be noted that the governing group has also rejected another proposal presented by NC-BC in which the recovery of a specific delegated councilorship for the island of La Graciosa was requested. This initiative aimed to strengthen its institutional recognition and grant it the value it deserves as a differentiated island, addressing its own particularities and needs.
