This Wednesday, the Board and Board of Spokespersons of the Parliament of the Canary Islands will visit the island of La Graciosa in an important meeting. A declaration of intent from the Chamber that holds the representation of all Canarians. Important because it reinforces with its presence the vision of a region of an archipelago with different realities, true, but which constitutes a common and collective project. And a declaration of the closeness with which this new legislature begins in the Canary Islands.
I applaud the initiative, which I even observe with some envy because, as a councilor of Teguise and La Graciosa, we proposed that the plenary sessions of our City Council could be held in each of the payments and nuclei of the Municipality, thinking of starting this round in La Graciosa, in homage to its declaration as the eighth island. It is a pity that it did not prosper, as the parliamentary visit could well have coincided with the holding of an extraordinary plenary session where the needs of the island were addressed. For the moment, that Plenary Session of the City Council in La Graciosa will have to wait for better times.
What will take place will be two working sessions of the Board and parliamentary spokespersons. And as it is a matter of work, allow me to remember the challenge of overcoming the double or triple insularity suffered by the so-called non-capital islands. Something that I do from the optimism inspired by the new Statute of Autonomy.
Our head standard in the Canary Islands includes in its article 181 an obligation that will allow - if action is taken - to overcome the distance, bringing the eighth island and Lanzarote closer to the field of equal opportunities with the rest of the Canaries, as the letter and spirit of article 181 of the Statute indicate that "The Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands will ensure its own territorial balance and the internal realization of the principle of solidarity, taking into account, among other criteria, the costs of double insularity (or triple I add in Graciosero territory). To this end, an Inter-Island Solidarity Fund or other instruments with similar objectives will be created. Its resources will be distributed, in any case, by the Parliament of the Canary Islands."
Where better than in La Graciosa to strengthen this commitment? A territory in which insularity is presented to the cube because the new Day Center to be built does not cost the Administration the same, nor do the children of La Graciosa study outside.
We are facing a challenge, the "181 challenge" that will make the archipelago a better region, betting on equal opportunities and interterritorial solidarity, which involves actions that, hopefully, with the passage of time we can say that they began on Wednesday, September 4, 2019 in the land of La Graciosa and Lanzarote. So be it.
Marcos Bergaz
