A group of athletes from the municipality of Yaiza have publicly expressed their "discontent and disagreement" with what they consider to be a "notable inequality and economic imbalance" in the subsidies allocated to individual athletes by the City Council.
According to their complaints, the council, "which presents itself as a benchmark and the island capital of sport for its management and sports promotion," has recently paid out the last call for this subsidy, published in November 2025 and corresponding to the 2024 sports season. In turn, those affected consider that the valuation system applied in said subsidies "presents significant deficiencies."
Specifically, they criticize that the current criteria "award higher scores" and, consequently, "a greater economic amount to athletes who compete in island and regional arenas, where the titles they hold are of lesser relevance in the sporting hierarchy and the associated costs are considerably lower."
On the contrary, they assure that elite athletes, with national, international, or world titles, certified as high-level or high-performance athletes, and/or scholarship holders by the CSD (Superior Sports Council) in sports technification programs at high-performance centers, all of them titles of great relevance, "receive a lower valuation, despite competing at the highest level, where the demand, competitiveness, participation, and difficulty to reach them is much greater, and the dedication and expenses to be assumed are significantly higher."
Likewise, they point out that participation in state and international competitions "usually prevents participation in island and regional championships, due to calendar overlaps, which limits the attainment of titles at these levels and negatively impacts the final score of the aid."
The athletes emphasize that the difference in the amounts awarded "can reach up to 1,500 euros more in favor of those who compete at the island or regional level," which, in their opinion, constitutes an "undervaluation of the effort, sacrifice, and competitive level required to achieve sporting achievements of greater relevance." They add that, "paradoxically, these same successes are subsequently used by the institution in its public communications."
Faced with this situation, they demand an urgent review of the regulatory bases of the subsidy, with the aim of adapting them to the reality of current sports, and thus, even more so, motivating the promotion of sports by prolonging it over time.
In this regard, they request that universal access to aid be maintained for all athletes in the municipality, but that "sporting merit be adequately prioritized, valuing effort, progression, titles, and results obtained in higher-level categories and competitions to a greater extent". They also demand speed in their processing, since in the current year the ones corresponding to the 2024 season have just been completed, published in November 2025 and recently paid.
Finally, they conclude that "a fair and coherent aid system is fundamental to promoting sports, both at the grassroots and high-performance levels, thus promoting a healthy lifestyle and sports development in all its categories".