Canaries learned at last to sing up to eight

On Tuesday, May 26, 2026, the street Teobaldo Power in Santa Cruz de Tenerife once again dressed up, as it does every two weeks, to welcome those who represent the Canary people and defend the interests of this land in the home of all Canarians: the Parliament of the Canary Islands.

We might think it would be just another session, one of many in which Fernando Clavijo would have to defend the Canary Islands once again against those in Madrid who continue to treat us as a periphery that is only looked at when it's convenient, or against those who, from extremist positions, even seek to decide how a woman should be a mother. But no. This time something different happened.

The 70 people who make up the Parliament, each with their political affiliation, agreed on something profoundly important: that La Graciosa would once again resonate strongly and that it would be reflected, once again, that the heart of the Canary Islands beats in eight islands.

Today it may seem obvious, but it wasn't always like that. Those of us belonging to Generation Z who grew up in La Graciosa did so under unwritten codes that defined our way of living together and understanding life.

Problems were solved at Margarona's supermarket checkout; "El Palo" was much more than a meeting point: it was a real space for debate, where when an elder spoke, the others listened. At Agustina and Juan's house, we collected the pills that Javier had prescribed at the Casa del Mar. Juan Romero and Marcialito went out every morning and every afternoon in the Safari to take people "to the Port" who needed it; they weren't the boats of today, but they entered Órzola even with the north wind.

At Quela's house, you could buy bread in the morning and weigh fish in the afternoon. If an injured bird appeared, we called Jeremías. And Monse, the recently decorated Simeón Páez, has been the policeman for decades who has accompanied the lives of all the Gracians, when we still remember him at the school gate with slightly darker hair.

That was what being from La Graciosa was all about. A reality that, many times, outside the island, was difficult to understand.

But we also grew up with a certain sense of sadness. The Christmas performance would arrive, and the music teacher would hand out the photocopy of "Let's go, let's sing, we are seven...". May 30th would arrive, and the school mural would repeat what appeared in the environmental knowledge books: seven islands. Only seven.

It may seem absurd today, but this reality was lived until just a few years ago. And that awakened something important in our people. All generations of Gracians united to defend what we had always known: that La Graciosa is an island, a town, and its own identity within the Canary Islands.

As a result of that collective struggle, in 2018 came the official recognition as the eighth inhabited island of the archipelago, and now, in 2026, we take another step with its inclusion in the anthem of the Canary Islands.

However, if we are asked if this is enough for La Graciosa to be treated equally with the other islands, the answer is clearly no.

We cannot understand, among many other things, that an 80-year-old neighbor practically has to study urban planning law to be able to change deteriorated windows in her home. After decades of accumulating protection measures over the territory, it was not always taken into account that a people live here who need to develop their lives with legal certainty, common sense, and dignity.

Uncertainty took over for too long many daily activities and life projects on the island. That is why the Gracians eagerly await the final approval of the PRUG, a long-demanded and necessary instrument. And it is fair to also recognize that, from the Planning area of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, special impetus has been put into accelerating its processing so that, hand in hand with the residents, many of the historical issues affecting La Graciosa can be unblocked.

Because protecting La Graciosa can never mean preventing Gracians from living on it.