Clavijo says Canary Islands “function” and unveils ten legislative commitments

President Opens the Debate on the State of the Nationality

The president of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, opened Tuesday’s debate on the State of the Nationality in the regional parliament with a speech that defended the executive’s management and called for political unity to tackle the archipelago’s most pressing issues. He highlighted four priority areas: autonomous financing, debt forgiveness, the defence of the ultra‑peripheral status within the EU, and the negotiation of the so‑called “Decreto Canarias”.

During his intervention he stressed that the islands have made progress despite an adverse international context and the lack of national budgets.

“The Canary Islands work. Not because we have no problems – we have many. The Canary Islands work because we have decided to face structural challenges without fear, with method, rigor and from unity.”

He linked this stability to the approval of the third autonomous budget of the legislature and to a series of regulatory reforms that, in his view, have enabled action in housing, dependency, health, education and tourism. The speech was framed against an unfavourable external scenario, referencing the ongoing international conflict, the situation in Cuba and the EU’s stance. In that context he made a clear declaration:

“Today, here and now, I want to make a firm and decisive statement: the Canary Islands are against war.”

Economic and Social Highlights

• Growth: Three consecutive years of growth above the national average, attributed to budgetary and financial stability.
• Employment: Improvements in overall employment, self‑employment and permanent contracts, alongside a plan to shift tourism toward a “qualitative” model—partly through stricter regulation of holiday homes and a forthcoming amendment to the 1995 Tourism Law.
• Housing: Activation of land, faster licensing and reinforcement of the Visocan programme. More than 4,000 homes are currently in planning, construction or rehabilitation, with measures to prioritise residents and locals for public housing and to curb demographic pressure from non‑resident purchases.
• Public Services: Reductions in dependency waiting times, progress on surgical lists, strengthening of vocational training, responses to the migration crisis, and actions on energy and water emergencies, demographic challenges, police development, La Palma reconstruction, and economic diversification through knowledge, innovation and culture.

Ten Commitments for the Final Stretch of the Legislature

1. Real Support for Self‑Employed Workers and Work‑Life Balance – Launch of the “Concilia” programme in 2026 to facilitate work‑family balance for freelancers, and activation of “+uno52”, which subsidises Social Security contributions for hiring workers aged 52 + to promote senior employment.

2. Less Bureaucracy, More Opportunities – Presentation of an Administrative Simplification Plan that will consolidate all procedures needed to start a business or interact with public administration into a single digital inbox.

3. Public Housing for Canarians – By the end of the term, more than 6,000 public homes will be under construction, complementing the growing private supply. An update to the Land Law and the Protected Natural Spaces Law will simplify regulations, boost planning and support key policies such as housing and demographic response.

4. Mobility as a Right – Continuation of free regular passenger transport and rollout of a pilot Single Transport Ticket project.

5. Education for All – Creation of a book bank to guarantee free textbooks and curricular material for students, and further reductions in student‑to‑class ratios, targeting by the end of the mandate:

   • Early childhood: 23 → 16, 18, 20 pupils per class
   • Primary: 25 → 22 pupils per class
   • 1st & 2nd ESO: 27 → 25 pupils per class

6. A Decisive Bet on Science, Innovation and Identity – Adoption of a new Canary Science Law, increased R&D + I investment through revised priorities of the Canary Development Fund, and cultural support projects such as Identitaria.

7. More Rights and Better Social Care – Eliminate dependency waiting lists longer than 180 days (legal limit) and reduce disability waiting times on the capital islands (currently over three years). Plans will benefit more than 100,000 seniors.

8. A Green Economic and Fiscal Regime (REF) – Update of the REF to prioritize sustainable policies. Instruments like the RIC, ZEC, IGIC and AIEM will be directed mainly toward rehabilitation, renewable energy, innovation and productive diversification, excluding expansion in saturated territories.

9. Demographic Challenge – Move from diagnosis to implementation by executing the Canary Strategy approved at the end of 2025. The Virtual Demographic Challenge Office will become a permanent support tool for the 47 municipalities with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants, and the “Canary Islands of the 15 minutes” project will adapt the proximity model of basic services to island realities.

10. Agriculture – Publication of the Agrarian Land Planning Guidelines (DOSAS) in the coming months to organise agrarian land, protect and promote farming activity, and provide security for field professionals. Commitment also includes defending the POSEI.