The Ministry of Equality has published the official resolution detailing the distribution of funds from the State Pact against Gender Violence allocated to local entities for the 2026 fiscal year. The data reveals insufficient funding for the islands' major tourist municipalities, with the case of San Bartolomé de Tirajana being particularly egregious. The archipelago's main holiday destination receives an amount that borders on insignificant compared to its massive tourism industry, its transient population, and the complex social realities the municipality faces daily. Mogán, for instance, receives a gross amount of €14.474,72.
The resolution signed by the Secretary of State for Equality initially allocates a gross amount of €24.311,85 to San Bartolomé de Tirajana, from which €15.815,71 is deducted as compensation or prior adjustments, leaving a final amount of just €8.496,14. This figure is scandalous for a territory with over fifty thousand registered inhabitants, in addition to a daily influx of tens of thousands of tourists from all corners of the globe. Maintaining prevention programs, social assistance resources, legal advice, and protection networks for vulnerable women with an annual budget of less than nine thousand euros demonstrates a complete disconnect between the ministerial offices in Madrid and the real needs of the Canary Island municipalities.
The situation is alarmingly repeated in other strategic locations in the province of Las Palmas, where state funding trickles in despite the massive influx of visitors. Municipalities like Mogán, another major tourist destination in southern Gran Canaria, appear on the list with very limited net allocations, which severely hinder the implementation of stable public policies supported by adequate technical and human resources. Municipal social services in the south of the island have been warning for years about the structural overload they face, forced to serve a heterogeneous and constantly changing population without financial backing from the national budget.
The inadequacy of these funds transcends mere accounting figures, becoming a major structural problem in local governance. Local authorities are legally obligated to develop new or expanded powers regarding equality and protection against gender-based violence, but lack the essential funding to hire specialized personnel, open urgent care centers, or deploy effective awareness campaigns in a high-density tourist environment. While the central government boasts of allocating millions of euros to the implementation of the national pact, the reality facing Canary Island tourist municipalities translates into paltry sums that force local councils into budgetary acrobatics to cover even the most basic needs for victim protection.
