The Government of the Canary Islands and the Central Government have scheduled a bilateral meeting for July 2nd to discuss the request for joint management of the islands' airports by the Autonomous Community. The meeting will take place, as reported by the spokesperson for the Government of the Canary Islands, Alfonso Cabello, in the Spanish capital, specifically at the Ministry of Territorial Policy.
Participating in this meeting from the Government of the Canary Islands will be Alfonso Cabello himself, the Minister of Presidency, Lady Barreto, and the technical general secretary of the Ministry of Public Works. Representing the Central Executive will be the Secretary of State for Territorial Policy, Myriam Álvarez, the Director General, and the State Attorney's Office. The Ministry will send draft documentation on the matter this week.
Cabello is confident in reaching an agreement similar to the one with the Basque Country, which would establish a 'reinforced participation body' for the Canary Islands. The Autonomous Community aims, under its Statute of Autonomy, to actively participate in decision-making regarding fees and investment plans for the island airports. 'The Canary Islands do not want a seat on Aena's Board of Directors' but rather 'to participate' in 'strategic decisions', emphasized the spokesperson.
The spokesperson also mentioned that another meeting request from the Government of the Canary Islands, this time related to the Economic and Fiscal Regime (REF), is pending a response from the Ministry of Finance.
“"The Canary Islands demand to be part of the decisions affecting the airports in this Autonomous Community."
This 'demand' is based on compliance with the Canary Islands Statute of Autonomy from 2018, Article 161 of which states that the Canary Islands 'can actively participate in these decisions'. Regarding the applicability of the State-Basque Country agreement, Cabello clarified that the reinforced working group model is valid, but reiterated that participation on AENA's Board of Directors is not merely about having a seat, but about active involvement in strategic airport investments.
The Government of the Canary Islands expects the draft documentation from Madrid to be adapted to the Statute of Autonomy, which the Ministry itself acknowledges needs to go beyond the legal framework of the agreement with the Basque Country.
To date, the debate on transferring competencies for general interest airports in the Canary Islands has centered on an offer from the Ministry of Territorial Policy to reach an agreement similar to the one established with the Basque Country. The Regional Executive had previously dismissed as 'fake' the announcement that the Autonomous Community could obtain competencies over airport spaces not of general interest, which widened the institutional gap.
It should be noted that the Canary Islands have already been exercising competencies since 2018 following the reform of the Statute of Autonomy, and the current debate focuses on general interest airports, following the line of the State-Basque Country agreement.
