The President of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, has taken advantage of his end-of-year message to call for unity in the face of the "challenges" facing the archipelago. In his opinion, the Islands must move away from the atmosphere of "conflict and confrontation", opting for "peace and tranquility" to face "these definitive years that are to come".
"I hope that in the coming years the great family of the Canary Islands will be able to unite as one to fight for its future," said the head of the autonomous Executive in his speech reviewing 2023 and wishes for 2024.
Clavijo is convinced that "unity is strength". For this reason, he calls for a common political, economic and social front that will allow the archipelago to continue "moving firmly on a path of progress". "There is a new generation of young people with a talent and training like we have never had in our archipelago", which guarantees "new opportunities and new challenges that we will have to face and win".
To achieve this, the president is committed to ensuring that the Canary Islands remain on the path of "harmony and tranquility" that "makes us a different land". In this sense, he applauds the tone of political debate in the Autonomous Community where the general interest prevails: "there is disagreement and discussion, but always with respect".
In his first end-of-year speech of the legislature, Fernando Clavijo is convinced that the archipelago has the capacity to build a better future and "return to the path of growth and social improvement" prior to the arrival of covid.
"We are not satisfied with enduring the unemployment we have, the poverty we suffer and the mistreatment we sometimes suffer," he stresses, guaranteeing that his Government will defend "tooth and nail" the interests of the Canary Islands. "No one is going to silence us, because we don't depend on anyone," he said.
Clavijo makes it clear that his Government will fight the battle against the State and the EU in defense of the interests of the archipelago. "We have a duty not to conform. To fix what doesn't work. To fight to achieve a better future, because the future is built," he stressed in his speech.
Tolerance and immigration
From the port of La Restinga, the port that has received the most migrants in 2023, the president has also dedicated part of his message to the migratory upsurge of 2023. He recalls that the Canary Islands has faced "in absolute solitude and without anyone's help" the arrival of more than 38,000 people to its coasts, a situation that has especially hit islands such as El Hierro "where more migrants have arrived than the entire resident population".
Clavijo praises the fact that, despite this historical number of arrivals, the Canarian people have humanely received those who flee from hunger, war and misery. In this sense, faced with the xenophobic discourses that triumph in other territories, he recognizes that he feels "proud to be Canarian" for the example of tolerance given by the Canarians, who have treated the migrants "with dignity, respect" and have even "healed their wounds".
The President of the Canary Islands recalls that the people who arrive on the coasts of the archipelago do so because "they are not lucky enough to enjoy the same as us and our children", something that should "make us value the health system we enjoy, our modern communication systems, the education our children receive, and the peace and security of our society".
Social shield
After this reflection, Fernando Clavijo makes a defense of the progress made by the archipelago in recent decades, improving its welfare system and expanding the social shield. "We must be proud of the work done by previous generations," he stressed, because "everything we have today we have achieved with the effort of our workers and companies. With the sacrifice and solidarity of all"
The head of the Government of the Canary Islands recognizes that the islands are still suffering the consequences of the 2020 pandemic, but is optimistic about the total recovery. "Let us have faith in this people that has its own identity, that has a past and that has a future," he says in a speech that was broadcast on public television and radio.
Clavijo closed his end-of-year message by saying that he is "absolutely sure" that "the Canary Islands that we are going to build together will be better, fairer and more prosperous than the one we leave behind", words with which he has once again called for unity to face the challenges of the coming years.