The FEHT presents to the PP of the Canary Islands its proposals on environmental taxation in aviation, residentialization, coastal management and tourism renewal

 

The board of directors of the Federation of Hospitality and Tourism Entrepreneurs (FEHT) of Las Palmas explained to the leadership of the Popular Party in the Canary Islands its position on some relevant issues for the tourism sector in the Islands, in case of the risks involved in the application of fiscal measures on aviation on international flights to the Islands, the harmful phenomenon of the residentialization of tourist properties, the efficient management of the coastline once the powers have been assumed by the Autonomous Community or the renewal of tourist areas, both in regarding public investment and through the adoption of the necessary incentives to make private investment in hotel facilities and shopping centers viable.

 

These issues, among others, were addressed during the meeting that the board of directors of the FEHT held with leaders of the PP of the Canary Islands, led by its president and candidate for the Presidency of the Government of the Canary Islands, Manuel Domínguez. The PP's head of the list for Parliament for the island of Gran Canaria, Poli Suárez, also attended; the candidate for the Presidency of the Cabildo, Miguel Jorge, and the candidate for the mayor of San Bartolomé de Tirajana, Marco Aurelio Pérez.

 

 

Tourism businessmen, through their president, José María Mañaricua, highlighted the importance of obtaining specific treatment for the Islands that exempts or delays the application of payment for CO2 emission rights on all flights to and from the Canary Islands. . This environmental tax measure will come into force in the European Union and the United Kingdom from 2024 progressively, and until now the exemption achieved for the Islands and the rest of the outermost regions (ORP) exclusively covers inter-island flights and between the Canary Islands. and the Peninsula, but not to international flights, which means a loss of competition with respect to other tourist destinations to which these environmental tax measures will not be applied at community level.

 

For the reasons indicated, the FEHT has urged the configuration of a common front in Spanish and European politics, with the joint work of political parties, to obtain this exemption on international flights that connect the Canary Islands with its most important source markets. . This position is valid both for the payment of emission rights and for the future tax on aviation fuel consumption, and the position of the FEHT in this regard involves negotiating and obtaining the exemption for all flights to the Archipelago, or to the least a moratorium for the Islands of sufficient duration to allow the full deployment of non-polluting fuels in aviation.

 

The meeting between the board of directors of the FEHT and the leadership of the Popular Party in the Canary Islands included dialogue on other issues relevant to tourism in the Islands, such as the adoption of measures to avoid the phenomenon of residentialization in tourist properties, a harmful practice. for economic activity and employment in municipalities that have a significant implementation of non-hotel accommodation. In this regard, the employers' association confirmed that the Popular Party of the Canary Islands shares this critical vision of residentialization and its disastrous consequences, as well as the commitment to respect the urban planning legality of the Canary Islands at the local, island and regional levels.

 

On the other hand, tourism entrepreneurs recalled the importance of putting into practice incentive measures for the tourist space in the Canary Islands, both from the perspective of public investment in specific infrastructure for tourist areas and, above all, through legal measures. as an incentive for private investment, very necessary for obsolete facilities such as some shopping centers in the south of Gran Canaria. Furthermore, the president of the FEHT recalled the importance of defining “differentiated tourism models on each island, depending on the competitiveness of each destination and its specific reality”, an aspect that was also shared by the president of the Canarian PP.

 

The FEHT also demands a boost in coastal management once the transfer of Coastal powers from the State Administration to the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands has been formalized, in order to make viable the implementation of activities linked to tourism with legal certainty. and full respect for environmental regulations, as has been applied in other communities with transferred powers. The board of directors of the tourist association also recalled the urgency of expediting the pending renewal licenses, also with full legal support, for the two hotels of the Riu chain in the municipality of La Oliva, in Fuerteventura, an aspect on which the president of the Canarian PP showed its total agreement.

 

With the same argument, respect for legality, the board of directors of the FEHT recalled the forecast of the island planning of Gran Canaria regarding the planned use of the port of Santa Águeda, in Arguineguín. The territorial regulations provide for the exclusive recreational and sports use of said dock after the expiration of the concession for its industrial use by a cement company. This vision of the future of Santa Águeda as an area of ​​great potential in the tourism development of San Bartolomé de Tirajana was shared by the PP candidate for mayor of said municipality, Marco Aurelio Pérez.

 

For his part, Manuel Domínguez stressed in his speech that the Popular Party of the Canary Islands “will always defend tourist activity, the most important activity for employment and well-being in the Canary Islands.” He also showed his opposition, which the FEHT shares, to the implementation of new specific taxes for tourists arriving to the Islands and promised a vision of public management that is “predictable and efficient, which guarantees the legal security of businessmen.”