Coalición Canaria is confident that the dissatisfaction felt by many voters with polarisation and bloc politics will result in a greater presence for Canarian nationalism in the Congress, where it is prepared to support the investiture of whoever adopts its proposals for the Canary Islands, be it Pedro Sánchez or Alberto Núñez Feijóo, as it did in 2023.
In an interview with EFE, their lead candidate, Cristina Valido, acknowledges that they are open to lending their votes to whichever candidate needs them for the investiture, including the PP leader, even if he subsequently reaches a coalition agreement with Vox, provided there is a commitment to the so-called ‚Canarian Agenda‘.
Coalición Canaria: Support depends on commitments made by the islands
«Whoever wants our support in the investiture, whether it be Pedro Sánchez or Feijóo, will have to contact the Canary Islands and negotiate with them,» says the nationalist candidate, who makes it clear that her «red lines» are the outstanding issues with the archipelago.
In these elections, CC hopes to broaden its electoral base thanks to its alliance with Primero Canarias, the party founded by prominent mayors from Gran Canaria who have left Nueva Canaria.
In an election in which Canarian nationalists are split across as many as three lists (NC is standing in alliance with Podemos, Sumar and IU, whilst Drago is standing alone), Valido expresses her confidence that the alliance with Primero Canarias will enable the Coalition to strengthen its representation in the Congress, where it held as many as four seats for three parliamentary terms (between 1993 and 2004).
To this end, she is addressing «all Canarians», including those who have so far voted for parties on the right or the left, and, in particular, citizens disillusioned with the confrontation between the major national parties, whose Members of Parliament in the Canary Islands Cristina Valido sees as «subject» to directives set by Madrid.
Coalición Canaria gives a positive assessment of its negotiations
In her review of the parliamentary term, the Tenerife MP highlights CC’s negotiating skills and defends the agreements reached with Pedro Sánchez’s government, as she is convinced that failing to sign them would have been detrimental to the islands.
«I have no regrets, because I believe that failing to reach the agreement we did would have been detrimental to the people of the Canary Islands,» says Valido, who cites, amongst the progress made, the reform of the Immigration Act to provide for the reception of migrant children, the amendment to the Canary Islands Investment Reserve to allocate capital to housing construction, and the continuation of free public transport on the islands.
She highlights as the main disappointment the fact that no draft national budget has been presented, which she believes has prevented progress on funding commitments for roads, water works and educational infrastructure.
The housing market and tourism are to be subject to stricter restrictions
Among the proposals put forward by CC is a move to restrict the purchase of homes in the Canary Islands by people who do not reside in this region, following the finding that 25 per cent of the homes sold last year were purchased by people who do not live on the islands.
For the candidate, the solution to the housing problem also involves increasing the supply of properties, streamlining planning procedures and offering guarantees to landlords to encourage them to put vacant properties on the residential rental market.
On the subject of tourism, she points out that the Canary Islands do not need to continue increasing their visitor numbers, hence the need to establish a specific carrying capacity for each island, particularly in the south of Tenerife and Gran Canaria, areas which, in her view, have already reached their growth limit.
The candidate from the party that has held power in the Canary Islands Government for the longest period acknowledges that the benefits of tourism are not shared equally across the population and refers to the economic difficulties that persist on the islands, where some of the highest poverty rates in Spain are recorded, despite an improvement in the indicators.
On the subject of holiday rentals, she praised the regulations introduced by the Canary Islands Government and highlighted that, since they came into force, the number of properties used for this purpose has fallen by 5,000.
Canary Islands: CC calls for more support on migration
With regard to immigration, she is calling for greater involvement from the Spanish Government and the European Union to anticipate arrivals and prevent the collapse of public services in the Canary Islands.
She also emphasises the need to step up maritime surveillance and bolster the numbers of state security forces in the Canary Islands to prevent boats from reaching the coast undetected.
As for El Hierro, the main point of arrival for cayucos in the Canary Islands, she advocates setting up medical facilities at the port of La Restinga and a field hospital to prevent the island’s hospital from becoming overburdened, as well as providing financial compensation to businesses affected by migration.
In the economic sphere, she calls for the effective implementation of the Economic and Fiscal Regime (REF) in state legislation and for regional funding that takes into account the specific characteristics of the Canary Islands.
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