In a press conference held at the island headquarters of the PSOE of Lanzarote, the island secretary and deputy in Congress, María Dolores Corujo, together with the socialist parliamentarians from Lanzarote, analyzed the budgets of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands for the year 2025, pointing out the "serious deficiencies" that will affect the island and the Canary Islands as a whole.
The island secretary and deputy in Congress denounced that these are "fraudulent budgets that not only demonstrate that they have no model for the Canary Islands, but an unmitigated mockery of Lanzarote and La Graciosa." The Socialist Group will present a comprehensive amendment to the autonomous budget document.
Corujo began by pointing out that, after months of turning unaccompanied foreign minors into the "big problem" of the Canary Islands, President Fernando Clavijo has decided to reduce the items allocated to their care by 62%, going from 15 million to just 5.6 million euros. At the same time, she highlighted an increase in spending on advertising and propaganda, which skyrockets from 1.9 to 3.7 million euros, showing, according to the deputy, "the true priority of this Government: replacing management with political marketing. In the Canary Islands, projects will be lacking, but what will not be lacking are advisors."
The socialist deputy also criticized the "setback" in the educational area, observing that, despite the general growth of the budget by 3.3%, the items for education increase by only 2.93%, moving away from the legal objective of allocating 5% of the autonomous budget to this area. "It is a worrying decrease, which will directly affect the quality of education and families with fewer resources," she stated.
In the fiscal field, Corujo questioned the policies implemented by Clavijo and his Government, accusing them of "benefiting the highest incomes while eliminating measures that supported the most vulnerable groups." She also criticized the elimination of the deduction for the rise in prices, which will deprive low-income families of 104 million euros, and the reduction of the autonomous section of the Personal Income Tax, which favors the highest incomes.
"An even greater mockery of Lanzarote is the manipulation of investments in projects such as the RETECHFOR," Corujo anticipates, highlighting that the item allocated to this project, which in the 2024 budgets was presented as an investment of 1.6 million euros and which in 2025 increases to 2.4 million, but which is destined for a "forest monitoring project for the development of the bioeconomy." "This type of item will not benefit the citizens of Lanzarote at all, as already happened last year. They are empty projects that only serve to inflate the figures without contributing any real value to the island," she criticized.
Regarding hydraulic investments, Corujo underlined "the manipulation of the items related to the water supply, especially the famous program to increase hydraulic resources for Lanzarote and Fuerteventura." "In 2024, Clavijo and his Government included a provision of 15 million euros to improve hydraulic resources, but not a single euro was executed. This year they are repeating the play, with 15 million more that will not be used to solve the water supply problems in Lanzarote, an urgent issue for the island," she denounced.
Regarding investment in Lanzarote, Corujo described the budgets as "an intolerable mockery," denouncing that "the island is relegated to sixth place in investments, behind islands such as Fuerteventura and La Palma." "Despite the manipulation of figures, the data is clear: Lanzarote will receive 14% less in investment per inhabitant than Fuerteventura, and 67% less if we discount the fraudulent items," she pointed out.
The deputy and island secretary concluded by assuring that "this budget is a reflection of the lack of a project for the Canary Islands. Instead of betting on education, research, housing and sustainability, Clavijo and his government prefer propaganda. Lanzarote and the Canary Islands deserve more than empty promises and measures that only benefit a few."
