Roman Rodríguez, the national secretary for Training, Programs, and Strategies of Nueva Canarias-Bloque Canarista, has accused the Canarian government, led by Fernando Clavijo of the Canarian Coalition, of spreading misinformation about the feasibility of curbing tourism development. He highlights mass protests in recent years calling for action, arguing that claims of helplessness are unfounded, citing the case of Veneguera in Gran Canaria.
Rodríguez points out that there are no compensation claims related to the 2001 moratorium and the 2003 guidelines, as acknowledged in an official report from the Canarian Ministry of Territorial Policy sent to the parliamentary group last April.
Despite government assertions, Rodríguez insists that the situation is different. He references an official report responding to a query by MP Esther González regarding liabilities arising from the application of various laws relating to land use and tourism.
The Ministry of Territorial Policy has firmly stated that all court rulings concerning the 2001 and 2003 laws were inapplicable, meaning there were no compensation payments. They noted that the government is focused on implementing rulings related to the 2009 emergency law on land use, which has potentially led to compensatory effects—not the earlier laws.
Rodríguez claims that the government’s “falsehoods” serve two purposes: avoiding accountability for those who passed the 2009 law, which Nueva Canarias opposed, and stifling debate on growth limits and a new moratorium—key demands of recent protests advocating for a more sustainable tourism model, which emerged during 2024 and 2025.
He stressed that the 2001 moratorium enabled the declassification of over 300,000 hotel beds, free of charge to the public purse, including 20,000 in Veneguera, and was crucial in protecting this area from development, a process later reinforced by the 2003 law that designated the Veneguera ravine as a protected natural space.
