The spokesperson for the Socialist Parliamentary Group, Manuel Fajardo Palarea, has criticized the PP for considering "idiots the thousands of Canarians who oppose oil exploration", referring to statements made in plenary session by Deputy Manuel Fernández, responsible for defending the position of the conservatives against a motion submitted to Parliament against the explorations authorized by the Rajoy Executive, in which he "argued that those who oppose Repsol's work off the coast of the Canary Islands are idiots", according to the PSOE.
"The PP, with that well-known intolerant attitude that characterizes it so much, once again disrespects this Parliament and that immense majority of Canarians who say no emphatically to oil," said the socialist from Lanzarote. According to Fajardo Palarea, the PP "has already become accustomed to treating anyone who does not agree with their proposals in a humiliating way", so, although he points out that this "new anecdote" does not catch "anyone by surprise, it does represent a lack of political stature unworthy of a public representative".
In addition, the PSOE parliamentarian finds it "astonishing" that the PP deputies for Fuerteventura, Fernando Enseñat and Águeda Montelongo, and for Lanzarote, Fernando Figuereo and Ástrid Pérez, "not content with voting in favor of Repsol", have "laughed at Fernández's joke" and "have not censored words that insult the immense majority of conejeros and majoreros".
Initiative to halt exploration
During the session, the Parliament of the Canary Islands approved an initiative by the Canarian Nationalist Group (CC-PNC-CCN), in which they request the halting of oil exploration. In this regard, CC questions that the popular deputies voted against, despite the fact that, "curiously", the initiative "was a literal copy that the PP leaders themselves presented in the Balearic Parliament", where they do oppose oil extraction.
CC highlights that during her speech, Deputy Claudina Morales "used the arguments put forward by the PP leaders in Valencia and the Balearic Islands, and which the Canarian Popular Party rejects, who prefer to side with a multinational like Repsol instead of with the citizens who voted for them".
In addition, the nationalists also consider "an intolerable insult to the citizens that during the parliamentary debate, the PP deputy called 'idiots', verbatim, those who have spoken out against these explorations". "That is one more example of the respect that popular leaders have for Canarians who are fighting for a sustainable and clean future," he remarked.
PSOE amendments
In the debate on the non-legal proposition, the Nationalist Group accepted four socialist amendments defended by Manuel Fajardo Palarea, by which the Parliament of the Canary Islands reiterates its frontal opposition to the authorization granted by the Council of Ministers to the company Repsol.
The spokesperson agreed with CC that "if the project is executed, all the impacts caused by the campaign will occur with the sole objective of benefiting the private interests of a multinational against the general interest of all Canarians".
Likewise, he obtained the support of the majority of the Chamber to demand that the Government of Spain revoke the authorization and to urge the Canarian Executive to work on changing the current energy production model, based on the exploitation of fossil resources, and to clearly commit to promoting renewable energies.
According to Fajardo, the PP did not respond to the questions asked by the socialist spokesperson, "along the lines of why the central government is negotiating with the Balearic government on the issue of exploration and not in the Canary Islands, and why what is bad for the PP of the Balearic Islands is good for the PP of the Canary Islands".
