AMF and Nueva Canarias accuse Tuineje mayor of leaving dozens of children without an inclusive camp

AMF spokesperson Yurena Vera accuses the mayor, who currently oversees the relevant portfolio, of poor planning and management.

Vera also recalled that the request stemmed from a motion jointly submitted by AMF and Nueva Canarias and unanimously approved by the full council. It called on Tuineje Town Council to move towards a model of genuinely inclusive municipal camps.

This summer, however, not only has no progress been made towards developing that model, but the “Una Mirada Especial” camp has also been lost. Last year, the Social Services Department, then overseen by a fellow member of the governing group, did manage to get it running.

Both parties stress that “what is most concerning is that not only has the agreement unanimously approved by the full council not been fulfilled, but the only resource available to these children and their families has also been removed”.

“Instead of moving towards a more inclusive society, we have gone backwards,” they lament. The camp went ahead last year; this year, with more funding available and the mayor in charge of the portfolio, it has not even been maintained, Yurena Vera Ramos concluded.

During her speech, Yurena Vera Ramos held the mayor directly responsible for the situation, saying that the camp’s cancellation was due, among other reasons, to the first councillor’s “irresponsible accumulation” of so many responsibilities. In her view, this way of managing is slowing the Town Council’s work, holding up files and directly harming the public. “With the mayor now in charge of this portfolio and many others, the Una Mirada Especial camp has disappeared,” she said.

AMF and Nueva Canarias also consider it incomprehensible that this is happening at a Town Council in a comfortable financial position, with close to €20 million deposited in banks and budget funds still unspent (the 2025 budget closed with an unspent surplus of €5.5m).

An “absolutely insufficient” explanation

Both parties describe the explanation given by the mayor during the committee overseeing the mayor’s office as “absolutely insufficient”.

“It is unacceptable for the mayor to try to hide behind the claim that the necessary money did not arrive in time and that the camp will be organised at Christmas. That is not the answer Tuineje families expect, because the problem exists now, in summer, when they need this service to balance work and family life,” Yurena Vera Ramos said.

The spokesperson added that what had happened showed the Town Council’s real problem was not financial, but managerial. “When there are resources to spare but no results, the problem is not money; it is the lack of planning, organisation and management capacity in the governing group generally and the mayor in particular,” she said.

Finally, AMF and Nueva Canarias called on the governing group to take responsibility for the loss of this service, explain the situation to the families affected and take the necessary steps to ensure that something like this does not happen again. “Social resources cannot depend on improvisation or a lack of foresight. Tuineje families deserve an administration that plans, manages and honours its commitments,” the Mixed Group spokesperson concluded.