The coronavirus infection data is worrying, so things are not going well in Lanzarote, in the Canary Islands and in the entire State. And since decreeing a pure and hard lockdown again, like the one we already experienced, is not in the Government's plans for now, we have no alternative but to learn to live with the coronavirus, although greatly increasing hygiene-sanitary measures and appealing even more to personal responsibility. This is the scenario we have ahead of us a couple of weeks before the start of autumn.
At the end of August, we have concluded an atypical summer tourist season in the Peninsula, but in the Canary Islands we do not lose hope of becoming the favorite sun and beach destination that Europeans expect during the winter. To do this, we must make a great effort to reverse the infection figures in order to create a safe space for the population and visitors. Only in this way will the restrictions imposed by the main issuing countries, such as the United Kingdom and Germany, be lifted.
While we face the return to school and this new epidemiological situation, I have no doubt that the Government of Spain will extend the temporary employment regulation files (ERTE) as far as necessary. While economic activity does not show signs of vitality and the statistics confirm this, including those of employment, the ERTEs are called upon to play a crucial role in providing coverage to hundreds of thousands of workers whose companies have stopped producing, totally or partially.
The coalition government of the PSOE and Unidas Podemos has never opposed the temporary extension of the ERTE. In fact, it already extended its validity once and it is very likely that it will be extended again if the Government's negotiations with business organizations and unions prosper. So much so that I cannot conceive of any other scenario than a new temporary extension of this coverage.
However, a different matter is that some, in an attempt to obtain political gain, want to stage that a second extension, its duration and conditions, is achieved thanks to their quasi-divine intervention. Every time others take some transcendent measure for the Canary Islands, and for the entire State, the self-elected ones take the opportunity to proclaim that they are the only bearers of the political gene that enables the defense of the interests of the Canary Islands, and for this they use a serial press campaign like a soap opera in use.
The commitment of the Spanish Government and the Canary Islands Government to workers and the disadvantaged is evident and is specified in measures, and perhaps that is what is being attempted to combat. In short, politics in lowercase. Regarding the attitude of the main opposition party, the PP, with the beginning of the political course, it can only be described as irresponsible, disappointing, without a sense of State and not up to these extraordinary times. It seems that Casado wants to go hunting and maybe the hunted is him.
By Manuel Fajardo Palarea