One Third of Private Canary Islands Entities Fail Transparency Despite 100 Million in Aid

The ITCanarias 2024 report reveals that 402 organizations, including political parties and unions, are non-compliant with transparency law.

Generic image of stacked official documents, symbolizing transparency and accountability.
IA

Generic image of stacked official documents, symbolizing transparency and accountability.

A recent report by the Canary Islands Transparency Index (ITCanarias) for 2024 has revealed that 402 private entities in the Canary Islands, which have received nearly 100 million euros in public subsidies, are not complying with transparency law.

The evaluation, presented by Transparency Commissioner Noelia García, for the first time includes political parties, trade unions, and business organizations. Although the overall average score has improved, the number of non-compliant entities remains significant, reaching 33.9% of the 1,186 entities examined.
Among the non-compliant are organizations such as Vox and Intersindical Canaria, which did not participate in the evaluation process and have offered no explanations. In contrast, the PSOE and CEOE-Tenerife were the only entities to achieve an outstanding rating in this section.

"Transparency is not a mere formality, but a democratic pillar."

Noelia García Leal · Canary Islands Transparency Commissioner
García Leal emphasized that these failures are not isolated incidents but reflect "systematic non-compliance in active publicity." This suggests that many organizations have not yet adopted transparency as a fundamental obligation, but rather as a mere formality. The situation is particularly concerning as non-compliant entities include organizations working with vulnerable groups, international cooperation NGOs, and bodies linked to the management of European funds, such as the Fuerteventura Coastal Action Group or the Canary Islands Startups Association.
Despite these challenges, the report also highlights positive developments. The average transparency score has risen from 6.15 to 7.47, and 112 entities have achieved the maximum score (a 10), almost triple that of the previous report. Outstanding scores have doubled, reaching 288. However, the commissioner insists that, despite global improvement, a structural gap persists between compliant and opaque entities, which affects public trust in institutions and organizations.