Yaiza has approved its budget for this pandemic year, and it is no small matter given the circumstances, since only two municipalities in Lanzarote have been able to do so. At the press conference presenting the municipal accounts, I was asked if this year's budget was the one that was most difficult for me to close. Today I am the mayor of Yaiza, but since 2011 I have assumed the responsibility of the Department of Economy and Finance, when the Administration was bankrupt and with 33 million euros of debt.
Those were difficult times, very difficult, so I replied to the journalist that each moment has had its point of difficulty, however, the work of all these years has allowed us to save the new budget with money for investment and coverage of social needs, among other pillars.
The numbers do not lie and the technical report of the Intervention is forceful: we closed 2020 with zero debt and positive settlement, more than I expected. I repeat, it is not a political assessment, it is an eminently technical report. For me it is a pride to affirm that Yaiza has a budget, and I say that it is a pride, for the capacity it has to withstand and resist the onslaught of regional cuts and the more than reasonable drop in income as a result of the dwindling economic activity in times of confinement and various restrictions due to the pandemic, which unfortunately is still among us.
These approved accounts are a success for all the citizens of Yaiza for resisting previous years of municipal debt, it is a success for the workers of the Council for enduring salary cuts in their day, and it is a success for this government group, because we have managed with our basic principles, which are responsibility, effectiveness and efficiency. Therefore, I dare to say that we have worked as a true team.
Since I took the reins of the Area of Economy and Finance until today, I have tried to maintain a purely business management but trying to provide it with a supportive and fair soul. Thus, as I said before, we went from a totally indebted City Council, without confidence among suppliers and a pyrrhic investment, to leaving the debt at 0 in 2018, to regaining the confidence of other institutions and suppliers and also becoming the local administration with the greatest investment capacity in Lanzarote.
With these management criteria and with the effort of all, we can today have an average payment of the lowest in all of Spain, of only 10 days, so that our self-employed and SMEs collect their invoices, and in these times of pandemic, compliance with obligations is worth more than any subsidy.
We also say that we multiply by 4.5 the subsidies and assistance aid for the people of the municipality who are going through a bad time, or that we increase the subsidies for the transport of university students by 39 percent, or that we allocate a social item for the opening of the municipal nursery and thus prevent the exploitation tender from being deserted, among other measures of a supportive and educational nature. Or that we allocate the largest budgeted amount ever for one of our most important pillars, employment, as is the attention to our elders and youth.
Another aspect to take into account of this budget is the important investment in different works that are being executed and others that are being projected. Those who know me know that I never liked to boast or presume, rather the opposite, but it would be tremendously unfair to many people who have helped this legislature of the government that my party, Unidos por Yaiza (UPY), and our partner in Yaiza, Coalición Canaria (CC), and the previous governments of UPY, support, not to recognize that with the work and support of all we now execute public works for more than 50 million euros, adding municipal resources and co-financing from different administrations. Moreover, I dare to say that we are one of the five municipalities in all of the Canary Islands with the most public investment, and therefore with more economic dynamization.
With our own funds we assume 17.5 million of investment for this year, something unthinkable seeing the not so distant past of Yaiza, but it is a reality, here we have in development the Sports Pavilion of Playa Blanca with three swimming pools and its multipurpose rooms, the link road of the avenues Papagayo and Salida a Femés, the Atlantic Park, a leisure area more with sports courts, the investments in renovation of our playgrounds, the paving plans of the areas of Costa Papagayo and surroundings, the replacement of the electrical system of our schools and the co-financing of the soccer field of Playa Blanca.
Another important aspect of this budget is the considerable increase in the items allocated to tourism and promotion of our natural and tourist resources, as the start-up of this activity, which is currently sunk by the covid-19 crisis, is more than foreseeable.With the new accounts we will be prepared to act. And all this, while maintaining ourselves as a City Council that in years has not raised the tax burden, on the contrary, we have lowered taxes, while we continue to assume new commitments with culture and municipal sports. All this makes me tell you with special enthusiasm that Yaiza is on the move.
I was also asked at the press conference what was the miracle of Yaiza, and I replied that although we are very devoted, here the only miracle was the work of all the municipal areas and the effort of the staff of the City Council of Yaiza and the neighbors of the municipality.
Oscar Noda González
Mayor of Yaiza