The Minister of Presidency of the Government of the Canary Islands, Nieves Lady Barreto, and the president of the Cabildo of La Palma, Sergio Rodríguez, have called on the Ministry of Territorial Policy to approve the addendum to the reconstruction agreement with the Ayuntamiento of Los Llanos de Aridane. The request is made ahead of the next Joint Commission, scheduled for mid-October, emphasizing that the council has repeatedly submitted all requested documentation, including corrections in form and content required by the Ministry over the past year.
Nieves Lady Barreto expressed the need for clarity on how the information should be sent, as, despite having sent it in multiple ways, the release of funds for the reconstruction of roads and infrastructure remains paralyzed. She recalled that the mayor, Javier Llamas, requested a technical meeting ten months ago to unblock the process, a request that has yet to be addressed.
Sergio Rodríguez lamented the Ministry's delay of over a year in understanding the real cost of replacing the infrastructure affected by the volcano. He noted that, despite this, several works undertaken by the Cabildo have been excluded from the agreement and thus left without funding. He stressed that the funds are for the people, as infrastructure is essential for them to rebuild their lives.
Mayor Javier Llamas, whose municipality suffered the most damage, warned that without funds from the Government of Spain, the council will be unable to continue opening tracks and roads, which would prevent them from issuing licenses for people to rebuild their homes or farms.
Minister Nieves Lady Barreto reviewed the steps taken since 2022, when the initial agreements were signed for the Ministry of Territorial Policy to cover 50% of the infrastructure reconstruction costs. For Los Llanos de Aridane, the initial estimate of 23.9 million euros was recalculated to 33 million in 2024. Later, in July 2025, this figure rose to 98.7 million euros with the inclusion of new works.
The process has been hampered by continuous exchanges between technicians from both administrations regarding the format of the documentation. Faced with the lack of progress, Mayor Javier Llamas requested a technical meeting with Minister Torres, without receiving a response to date. Justifying the 33 million euros already spent is a prerequisite for transferring the remaining funds.
Despite repeated submissions of documentation, including a dossier in February 2026 and subsequent submissions in March and June, the Ministry continued to request the same information, adding new demands regarding the format of the informative signs for the works.
Last Friday, September 25th, the council again sent all the detailed documentation and a proposed sign format, after the Ministry rejected several models presented by municipal technicians due to the lack of a specified format in the agreement.
