Antigua on War Footing Over Healthcare

The municipal council supports the signature collection and accuses the health department of “not considering the health of the residents of Antigua.”

The Antigua City Council states in a press release that it has “maintained this claim and demand before the Canary Islands Government’s Health Department for years, the last meeting with the island health authority in Fuerteventura being three years ago, and to date no commitment has been materialised to improve health services for a population that exceeds 15,000 registered residents, with a very high average age.”

“Starting with the town centre of Antigua, Mayor Matías Peña García explains that the current Antigua health office is not officially classified as a Health Centre in order to avoid expanding professional and family‑medicine teams, providing a 24‑hour emergency service, or permanently installing a medicalised ambulance.”

“Moving on to Caleta de Fuste, the council notes that land parcels offered by the municipality have been rejected, delaying the drafting of a project, omitting execution budgets from the financial plans, and now referring again to the facility as a ‘consultation office’ instead of a ‘Health Centre’, which is what the resident population and the island’s central location deserve.”

The council adds that it “denounces the current health situation and care in the municipality, joins the neighbourhood demand, and will monitor the signatures collected, which represent and reinforce a necessary claim for justice.”

Mayor Peña García concludes: “Health is not a game; we all know that, and politics should not stand in the way. Those who claim to defend it cannot be the ones blocking its progress.”