The Minister of Finance and European Union Relations for the Government of the Canary Islands, Matilde Asián, announced in a plenary session of the Parliament of the Canary Islands that her department is finalizing an economic financial plan. This plan is a consequence of not complying with the spending rule during the 2024 fiscal year.
Asián explained that the plan is not yet public, pending final approval, and expressed confidence in its eventual approval. She noted that the Ministry of Finance agrees with its content, within the framework of the fiscal and financial policy council.
The minister refuted claims made by Nueva Canarias (NC) deputy Esther González, who suggested that the Canary Islands needed to implement an austerity plan and reduce computable spending by 445 million euros. Asián attributed a "fundamental confusion" to González, arguing that breaching the spending rule "consolidates spending," resulting in a higher spending level to be accounted for from 2024 onwards.
Asián questioned González, asking if she did not find it "strange" that the central administration demands an economic financial plan from communities with a surplus, like the Canary Islands, while claiming to have met the spending rule in 2024.
For her part, Esther González (NC) stressed that the Canary Islands' breach of the spending rule is not an isolated incident, having recurred in 2025 and being forecast to continue until at least 2028, according to the independent fiscal authority (AIReF). The deputy estimated the Canary Islands government's spending reduction at 445 million euros, bringing the total deficit for 2024 and 2025 to 1,011 million euros.
The NC deputy warned that this situation will have "a direct consequence on the quality of life for Canarians" and "compromises the stability of the autonomous community's public finances."
González deemed it "intolerable" to face "adjustments that force the withdrawal of funds from public policies," while resources are allocated to sustain "the largest, most expensive, and least efficient Government of the Canary Islands in history." She concluded that this is "the price of the malpractice" of this executive.
It is recalled that the current Executive, formed by CC and the PP and led by Fernando Clavijo, possesses the highest number of ministries, vice-ministries, and high-ranking officials in the Islands' history. Furthermore, this Government has left over 3.3 billion euros of its budget unexecuted since 2023 and has had to return 50 million euros in Next Generation European funds, with an additional 150 million euros to be reimbursed soon.
