Fuerteventura’s PP calls on the Island Council to immediately draw up housing projects on land it owns

The People’s Party (PP) in Fuerteventura welcomes the Council of Government’s approval of the use of Canary Islands Development Fund (FDCAN) money to build housing subject to a public-protection scheme.

The measure is part of a restructuring of the strategic priorities, with housing specifically included in Priority 2 alongside infrastructure and facilities of strategic importance.

The other approved priorities cover research, development and innovation (Priority 1), as well as the construction and adaptation of social-care places and support for people in need of care (Priority 3).

On the priority that allows public housing to be built, Claudio Gutiérrez, the PP’s spokesperson on Fuerteventura Island Council, said: “Time has proved the Fuerteventura PP and the Vive Plan right. The party presented the plan earlier this year.” The plan was criticised at the time by the island’s president and was also opposed by the governing group, despite evidence that islands such as Gran Canaria were using the fund to build public housing. However, as the PP spokesperson pointed out, “time has ultimately backed the PP’s proposals, since today’s approval by the Council of Government removes any doubt about using FDCAN funds to build public housing”.

Gutiérrez said that, following this agreement, “there are now no excuses for not using the money for what people really need: homes where young people and families can build a life on our island”. He also said: “It is a real shame that the Island Council did not adopt the roadmap set out in the Vive Plan as its own from the outset. Had it accepted this proposal when it was presented, agreements with the professional associations to speed up planning permissions would already have been processed.”

Speeding up project approval

Indeed, had that planning been adopted earlier, Fuerteventura could now have reached the next stage, involving the approval of projects and planning permissions, “so that these public homes could be put out to tender as soon as possible and provide an effective response to the housing problem faced by people who live here”, the PP spokesperson explained.

The PP stresses the importance of combining the proper use of these funds with suitable planning for land and resources. It is therefore urging the governing group to start work urgently to make the necessary public land available and speed up outstanding administrative procedures.

“Fuerteventura needs public resources to be turned into real solutions for our neighbours,” Claudio Gutiérrez concluded, calling for no more time to be wasted and for action on affordable protected housing to be made an immediate priority.