"These are the accounts with the highest social spending since the beginning of the crisis." "80 out of every 100 euros are allocated to essential services." Do these words sound familiar? You could have heard them a few hours or days ago, but they are the statements that the Minister of Finance of the Government of the Canary Islands made last year to define the 2016 budgets. The same words.
The social budget seems to be a mantra that this Executive constantly repeats. They have no qualms about being "political tricksters", trying to sell us that these are the accounts that our land needs, twisting the data to their liking. However, Mr. Clavijo and Mrs. Dávila must be reminded that allocating 8 out of every 10 euros of the budget to people is the norm in any autonomous budget.
Another fallacy about these budgets is that the 2017 accounts grow compared to the previous year. In fact, this is how it was sold during its presentation. The Minister even said that it is the budget that has grown the most in the last five years. Something totally false because the Government does not take into consideration the extraordinary credit that they had to approve last September for 107 million euros.
Another of the tricks they have used to sell us these accounts is that less money is allocated to amortizing debt. However, they hide that the payment of interest on public debt increases by more than 6 percent. They also hide that there is an increase in public debt, which has grown by more than 10 percentage points in the last ten years. It has gone from 8 percent of GDP in 2010 to representing 18.38 percent in the 2017 forecasts. That is, it has gone from representing 1,550 euros for each Canary Islander in 2010 to almost 4,000 euros next year. This is because the Government has renounced to exercise a fair tax policy, which allows to pay for public services, and therefore, end up resorting to external financing to maintain them.
We are facing a budget that does not really bet on eradicating the main problem of our land: the high unemployment rate. If it were so, a clear and determined commitment would be made to the agents that really create employment, SMEs and the self-employed. Instead, what is done is to lower by 40 percent the amounts destined to small and medium-sized companies, decrease by 33 percent the support to business innovation and by 31 percent the support to basic research.
Another of the lies told about these budgets is that what is allocated to Education is 2.6 times greater than the previous year. However, if we look closely at these items, and compare them with those of 2016, we see that there are almost 5 million euros less. In Health, three quarters of the same thing happens, the 2017 budget does not provide enough money to cover the real expenditure of the Canary Health Service. The Minister himself has already stated that he would need 200 million euros more. However, the Government led by Mr. Clavijo only considers that an increase of 75 million euros is necessary. Although this data is not real because they make this calculation based on the initial forecast for 2016, not what was finally allocated, so the increase is only 40 million euros. Something clearly insufficient if you want to implement a shock plan against waiting lists and improve health care in the Islands.
On the other hand, it must be recognized that an effort is made in the area of Social Policies, but also totally insufficient. If, as the Government says, it were a budget totally destined to people, any superfluous expense would be eliminated. However, this is not the case, since the program for the promotion of employment decreases by 4 points, the program for the prevention and care of minors is reduced and the program of benefits and other social aid falls by almost 9 percent.
In addition, in the area of dependency, one day this Government tells us that there are 152 million euros allocated and the next day we see that there are 119. That is, nothing more and nothing less than 33 million difference.
Is this what Mr. Clavijo and Mrs. Dávila understand as a social budget? And meanwhile, the salaries for the Executive and senior officials increase by more than 6.32 percent, an item that already increased in 2016 by 12.54 percent.
It is clear that the Government of the Canary Islands continues to govern for a minority. It is more concerned with getting the Land Law forward than with reversing the situation of poverty and social exclusion that is experienced in almost 30 percent of Canarian households.
For all this, we reject these accounts. We have said it loud and clear, and we will say it again in the plenary of the Parliament of the Canary Islands, even though the amending groups, which are the ones that demand another bill and the ones that elaborate an alternative to these accounts, have the same time as those who bet on the immobility of Mr. Clavijo.
On this occasion, in addition, unlike last year, we will not have the right to reply. Canary Coalition and Socialist Party want to cut off the debate and try to silence the opposition to their accounts. They will not succeed. We will continue saying that the 2017 budgets chronic the situation of poverty and social exclusion suffered by the Canary Islands. We consider that they reproduce the same failed policies, which have deepened the gap between rich and poor. These budgets will not change the Canary Islands.
We fear that Mr. Clavijo and Mrs. Dávila will have the same thing happen to them as what happens to Mrs. Carmina in the Christmas Lottery ad, that they believe they have a prize in their hands but in the end they will realize that what they really have is a science fiction budget.
Noemí Santana, spokesperson for Podemos in the Parliament of the Canary Islands
