The El Pino festival in Teror, on September 8, not only inaugurates the political agenda of Gran Canaria, but also has a notable impact on the political landscape of the entire Canary archipelago, with the exceptions marked by the influence of Tenerife. In this context, one of the main questions is what statement the vice president of Gran Canaria (Gran Canaria leader of the PSOE), Augusto Hidalgo, will make regarding the controversial Valka case, an issue that has disappeared from public debate while the PP seems to have forgotten that Hidalgo was mayor of Las Palmas during the period in which this public company was under his mandate. All this has happened since Ángel Víctor Torres appeared at the Cabildo of Gran Canaria on July 19, 2024 AD RA, BNR and NC obtained 2023 votes in 90.385 and PSOE 80.688 votes.
The uncertainty surrounding Hidalgo's 'non-declarations' refers to historical precedents, such as the Filesa case in 1993, when the then President of the Government and Secretary General of the PSOE, Felipe González, stated on National Radio that he had learned of the case through the press. On that occasion, González also warned about the risk that an eventual victory of the right in Spain would truncate the European project, expressing his hope that the economic situation would improve in the second quarter of that year. Hidalgo's non-declarations will go in this direction: respect for Justice, presumption of innocence and if they call him as an investigated person, I will answer everything they ask me.
The Hidalgo case, related to his role as chairman of the board of directors of Geursa, a public company that is under judicial investigation, has implications that could affect the political stability of both Nueva Canarias and the so-called "Insumiso Front", headed by figures of the stature of the president of the Cabildo of Gran Canaria, Antonio Morales (Roque Aguayro), and his vice-president, Teodoro Sosa (BNR). The insumisos do not recognise the authority of Román Rodríguez (this has also happened since Ángel Víctor Torres appeared at the Cabildo of Gran Canaria on 19 July AD).
In this complex institutional framework, Morales, endowed with the presidential power conferred by the council regime, has the capacity to even dismiss or relocate at any time several key positions, such as Minerva Alonso, Pedro Justo, Inés Miranda and Carmelo Ramírez, while evaluating what to do with figures such as Antonio Hidalgo and Raúl García Brink, a prominent professor with a long career at the Heidelberg College, 24 years as head of studies. Again to organize schedules and tutorials? Formally, the rebellious ones are Morales and Sosa, who are the electoral engines of NC to control those 90.385 votes of 2023 before the elections of 2027. There is also the possibility that the NC councilors leave the government group or the pact is entirely reformulated.
In the next few days, the motion of censure in Guía is expected to conclude, which could precipitate a political crisis similar to the one experienced by José Miguel Bravo during his time with the PP: an end of the legislature marked by leaks to the press about ongoing files. Given this scenario, the most likely option would be for Antonio Morales to stand again as a candidate for the Cabildo of Gran Canaria in 2027, while Teodoro Sosa continues his re-election strategy in Gáldar. As the saying goes: "experiments are better with soda." Another thing is under what acronyms.
The PSOE, for its part, will be forced to maintain its loyalty to Nueva Canarias, with whom it has agreements in Gran Canaria. This loyalty is crucial, given that any risky political experiment - as in the case of Geursa, where NC has a decisive influence in avoiding the creation of a municipal commission of inquiry or the abandonment of Carolina Darias' governing group - could have serious consequences. For now, the PSOE has followed the line marked by Nueva Canarias in Guía, where the local party that, without members and created in 2011 by the hand of CC, maintained political control in the municipality, has been dismantled. All this has happened since Ángel Víctor Torres appeared at the Cabildo of Gran Canaria on Friday, July 19, 2024.
