The PSOE of Lanzarote has denounced the "emergency" situation regarding dependency and disability affecting the island under the current Canarian Government of Coalición Canaria and the Popular Party. According to the latest official data requested by the Socialist deputy for Lanzarote, Lucía Olga Tejera, in Lanzarote there are 3924 people waiting for a disability assessment and 427 people waiting for a dependency assessment, "an unprecedented setback and abandonment".
Furthermore, the PSOE has pointed out that disability assessments "have not been carried out since the beginning of the year due to lack of personnel, with serious consequences for many families who are left without access to resources, support or fundamental rights".
The general secretary of the PSOE of Lanzarote and deputy in Congress, María Dolores Corujo, has described the situation as "bleeding" and has recalled that "during the last legislature, with a progressive government in the Canary Islands, the waiting list for dependency was reduced to historic lows and the amounts of benefits were significantly increased". "Not only was lost time recovered, but decisive progress was made towards a fairer, more humane and more efficient care model", she continued. "What we see now is a real setback, the dismantling of a system that worked".
A 123% increase in the waiting list since the PSOE is no longer in government
In contrast, current data show an alarming deterioration. The waiting list for dependency in the Canary Islands now reaches 13,922 people recognized as having the right but without any benefit or service whatsoever. Of these, 13,033 have been waiting for more than six months. In December 2023, under Socialist management, that figure was 5,826 people. By the end of 2024 it had risen to 7,478, and now it has practically doubled. In other words, from December 2023 to now, the waiting list has increased by 123.7%.
The situation is unsustainable throughout the archipelago. On islands such as Tenerife, there are more than 12,500 people waiting for assessment; in Gran Canaria, more than 5,300; in Fuerteventura, more than 700. In La Gomera and El Hierro, the figures are also worrying, with 152 and 75 people respectively. Even in La Palma, with 45 people, the effects of the system's collapse are reflected.
Corujo points out that "the case of Lanzarote is especially serious: there are 3924 people still without assessment, and since the beginning of the year not a single disability assessment has been carried out due to lack of personnel and 427 people without their dependency being assessed".
"Every time Coalición Canaria governs, the rights of the most vulnerable people regress. It is a matter of model: they do not believe in a dignified care system, nor in a strong public sector that supports those who need it most", denounced Corujo. "What is happening is more than bad management, it is the deliberate abandonment of a system that had begun to work."
"We are talking about people with great needs, who wait for years for an assessment that will simply allow them to begin to live with more dignity and guarantees. Not being able to access a benefit, a place in a center, technical assistance or a caregiver is not an administrative inconvenience: it is a form of institutional violence. It is condemning hundreds of families to bear alone what should be a shared responsibility of the public care system. And that, in the 21st century, is unacceptable", denounced Corujo.
The PSOE of Lanzarote has demanded the "immediate" provision of personnel to reactivate the disability assessment service on the island and a shock plan to reduce waiting lists. "We are not talking about numbers, we are talking about the quality of life of people and their families. Of families who cannot access technical assistance, a place, a benefit or a simple report. We cannot allow the right to care to depend on the government in power", concluded Corujo.
