Canary Islands in the Courts | Canary Islands7

Canary Islands in the Courts |  Canary Islands7

Transferring to state policy the reality of an archipelago located 1,700 kilometers from the capital of Spain so that its specificities are known -and respected-, is a shared task of the 15 deputies and 14 senators who today represent the Canary Islands in the national Parliament. With different voices, with different political ideas
and with the weight that corresponds to each one within their parliamentary group, but with the common goal of looking after the interests of the islands. On the 40th anniversary of CANARIAS7, three representatives from the islands, the PSOE deputy Tamara Raya, the CC spokesperson in Congress, Ana Oramas, and the PP senator for Gran Canaria, Sergio Ramos, contribute their vision of the role played by the Canarian parliamentarians and their projection of the Canary Islands they want for the future.

"The role of deputies and senators has evolved over time and has been placing a more territorial reality at the center of politics," says Raya, "parliamentarians have taken on a fundamental role when it comes to
defend the interests of each autonomous community and the Canary Islands are no exception», adds the socialist deputy. That laws as important as the REF or the Statute of Autonomy, both approved in 2018, be debated, gives the islands a prominent place in the national political debate, in addition to what is marked by the reality of each moment, such as has happened with the parliamentary activity linked to the reconstruction of La Palma after the volcanic eruption.

Raya recognizes that those who are in the majority groups have, as a matter of mere proportionality,
Fewer opportunities to talk about specific issues of the Canary Islands in the gallery, but claims the quiet work behind it, in the case of the socialist deputies, coordinating the position of the Canarian Government with the different ministries, which in many cases allows matters to be resolved without a public debate taking place. "We are seeing it with the State Budgets, for example," she points out, "we all play an important role, another thing is that the smaller groups have more prominence," concludes the PSOE representative.

The role of deputies and senators in territorial defense has gained prominence

In the opinion of Oramas, however, there is a great difference between the work that each one performs depending on the parliamentary group to which they belong. “Everyone tries to do what they can for the Canary Islands, but the same thing always happens”, he points out, “if you are in a state party when your own govern, you have to shut up, and that happens to both the Canarian parliamentarians of the PSOE and the PP, that in the opposition they grow but when they govern
they have to defend policies that are not the best for the Canary Islands and they are not allowed to present amendments adjusted to the singularity of the islands”, adds the nationalist deputy. That has been her tone, she exposes, in her almost fourteen years as a CC deputy in Congress. “Unfortunately, that remains the same despite how much the role of parliamentarians has changed in these years,” he says, “that is why nationalism plays a vital role, because every time the interlocutors in the Government change, it is necessary to explain again what remoteness and insularity entails, ”he adds.

For Oramas, the main change has come from advances in the digital world. «Before, the canaries only knew about our interventions because of what others said we had said or because of the journalistic chronicles,
now citizens can follow live what happens in Congress and also to express their opinion, which is a great wealth", he points out, "I have had interventions with several thousand comments, some with criticism that must be accepted, others to give their support and others with insults that should not be take heed," he adds.

The senator of the PP Sergio Ramos, for his part, vindicates the work of the Upper House against the greater media protagonism of Congress. «I believe that this legislature the Senate
has demonstrated its capacity for action for the Canary Islands», he explains, «it has been the epicenter of many debates of interest to our archipelago and I do not think it is only because it is the territorial Chamber, but because we have managed to bring the issues that interest the canaries,» he adds.

Irregular immigration and the human drama that it entails has had a special presence in the Senate debate since the beginning of the legislature, "I would dare to say that every month," he says.
Also the defense of the REF or the aid to the palm trees affected by the volcano. "I especially have to thank my parliamentary group that has given me the freedom to represent Gran Canaria and the rest of the Canary Islands with great passion and I hope that it will continue to be so," he explains.

In this legislature, the Canary Islands have much more presence in the Upper House

For both the immediate and long-term future, Ramos aspires to "see the Canary Islands better", although he is not particularly optimistic. «I am not going to cheat at solitaire, let's be honest, the Canary Islands are not well,
when we have the highest poverty and youth unemployment rates in the entire country, we can sell little future”, he points out. The model to follow that the PP looks to reverse this situation is Andalusia. "We are working so that within another 40 years the Canary Islands will be spoken of as a prosperous community where people want to stay," he concludes.

The wish of the socialist Tamara Raya for another four decades is "a Canary Islands less dependent on the State, which stops appearing in the last positions in the lists of social indicators
and that, due to its status as RUP, it has at least the same recognition as up to now and much more». All this "fleeing from victimhood" and from the conviction that Canarian society has more than demonstrated "values ​​and principles" in the face of the adversities it has had to face in recent times, such as the pandemic, the migration crisis, the volcanic eruption, or inflation triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. "We are a formed, agile and prepared society, which has to break the stereotypes that place us and compete on equal terms with the rest of the State," he adds.

For its part, for Oramas, one of the keys to the Canary Islands of the future is seeking specialization in new professions linked to the digital economy, taking advantage of the situation between three continents and playing an important role in the development of Africa in the coming years. . "It is everyone's responsibility that in another 40 years
we have a Canary Islands located on the map, technological, with employment that generates wealth and with respect to our nature and diversity, not to grow by eating up territory, but rather by creating a digital economy”, points out the CC deputy.

“It is necessary to tell Canarian society about the work we do”

The work of the Canarian deputies and senators does not always find enough echo among the daily avalanche of political information and the multiple messages on social networks, despite its importance. "On many occasions essential issues for the islands are debated that are overshadowed by the dynamics of national politics," says the CC spokesperson in Congress, Ana Oramas, "it is necessary to tell Canarian society about the work we do and that is why it is so important that media such as CANARIAS7 have a presence in Madrid, because giving direct information on the activity of Canarian parliamentarians in Congress and in the Senate is essential to know what is happening at all times and to know the role played by governments and the different political forces in the present and in the future of the Canary Islands, which would otherwise be diluted, "adds the nationalist deputy.