The Parliament of the Canary Islands has approved in the plenary session held this week a Non-Law Proposal (PNL) from the Socialist Group in which the historical work of the neighborhood movement in the archipelago is recognized and measures are promoted to encourage its participation in public affairs.
The initiative, defended by the deputy for Lanzarote and La Graciosa, Marcos Bergaz (PSOE), promotes neighborhood associations as a way for active participation of citizens, for the benefit of the quality of life in municipalities, towns and neighborhoods.
The proposal requests the study of the viability of a specific regulation that defines the guiding principles, rights and obligations of neighborhood organizations in the Canary Islands, facilitating their articulation and institutional participation, as well as the promotion of technical and financial support measures for neighborhood associations for the development of their activities, strengthening their organizational capacity and their impact on community life.
It also supports promoting the active participation of neighborhood organizations in urban planning processes, the design of social policies and local decision-making, guaranteeing real spaces for co-governance, and developing training programs aimed at members of neighborhood associations in areas such as citizen participation, associative management, community leadership, communication and digitization.
In addition, it calls for the promotion of a regional plan to strengthen the neighborhood movement, in coordination with island councils and municipalities, that identifies needs, opportunities and lines of action to consolidate its role in public life.
The socialist proposal includes the promotion of research and historical memory of the neighborhood movement in the Canary Islands, encouraging studies, publications and activities that rescue and value its trajectory.
This is a PNL in which the socialists claim the "vertebrating effect" and the "deep footprint" that neighborhood associations have in the municipalities, neighborhoods and towns of the Canary Islands.
In this sense, Bergaz recalled that, with the democratic consolidation in the 80s, the neighborhood movement expanded throughout the islands, from the historic neighborhoods of Santa Cruz de Tenerife to the peripheral areas of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, also passing through the neighborhoods of Lanzarote, Fuerteventura or La Palma: "They helped to consolidate democracy, demanded progress in services and public spaces, and actively participated in the improvement of neighborhoods, towns and villages".
He also pointed out that the Statute of Autonomy of the Canary Islands, in its Article 110, establishes the general legal framework for the Canarian associative fabric, implicitly including neighborhood associations as fundamental actors in citizen participation, and that this framework is complemented by Law 4/2003 on Associations of the Canary Islands, which regulates key aspects on the constitution, operation and participation of associations, recognizing their value as instruments of social cohesion and democratic structuring.
For Bergaz, associations have known how to reinvent themselves. "In recent years, new generations have begun to get involved in contemporary causes such as sustainability, the defense of the territory, the right to decent housing or social inclusion. The neighborhood movement has been evolving, opening up to collaborations with other social groups and adapting to digital tools, without losing sight of its essence: its role as an engine of change from the local level".
According to the socialists, the numerous neighborhood associations that currently exist in the Canary Islands, thanks to their "integral, territorial and democratic perspective", contribute to society "social cohesion, sustainable development and social participation".
Therefore, they advocate promoting associationism and the development of the neighborhood movement as a participatory channel for citizens, including them, for example, in the municipal political agenda or creating citizen councils for the benefit of the quality of life of the municipalities and neighborhoods of the Canary Islands.
