Natalia Santana calls Fuerteventura’s investment cut from 142 million to 110 million euros a “disgrace” as the Canary Islands budget grows by 717 million

Natalia Santana, an MP for Nueva Canarias and president of Nueva Canarias Fuerteventura, has called the reduction in planned investment for Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands’ 2027 budget a “disgrace”. She says the allocation has fallen from 142 million euros to around 110 million euros, despite the regional budget increasing by more than 717 million euros.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday 12 November, alongside Rubén Reyes, Unidad del Pueblo Canario’s candidate for the Senate for Fuerteventura, Santana questioned the priorities of the Canary Islands Government, formed by Coalición Canaria and the Partido Popular. She accused it of cutting investment in essential public services while increasing the regional budget.

According to figures presented by Santana, Fuerteventura is the third island to lose the most investment, behind Lanzarote and La Gomera, with a fall of nearly 22%.

Santana also questioned the Canary Islands Government’s social priorities. She criticised it for cutting investment in specialist healthcare by 45 million euros and reducing education infrastructure funding by 22 million euros, despite having 717 million euros more. She also denounced cuts to support for victims of gender-based violence, a freeze in the Canary Islands Employment Service budget and a 12 million euro loss for the primary sector since 2023. On housing, she warned that of the additional 49 million euros, 45 million comes from the state, leaving the regional government to contribute just four million euros more.

Impact of the budget on Fuerteventura

Santana devoted much of her remarks to health investment in Fuerteventura that, she said, has been removed or reduced in the draft budget. Overall, the island’s healthcare management allocation has fallen from two million euros to 544,000 euros, a reduction of 72%.

Among the cuts she highlighted was the removal of the 100,000 euros earmarked for an urgent-care facility in the municipality of Antigua, as well as the disappearance of funding for the El Castillo health centre and the expansion of the Gran Tarajal health centre.

She also denounced the removal of planned funding for the Costa Calma haemodialysis service and the lack of a dedicated allocation for the master plan to expand Fuerteventura General Hospital.

In Morro Jable, she said, funding to refurbish the health centre has fallen from 257,000 euros to 84,000 euros, while the allocation for the South Specialised Care Centre (CAE) has also been reduced.

Regarding the El Matorral health centre, she criticised the cut to its allocation and questioned why the budget document lists it as a health centre while representatives of Coalición Canaria and the Partido Popular refer to it as a local clinic.

Santana acknowledged that the Corralejo II project has been allocated almost seven million euros, but insisted that this investment does not make up for the removal of other projects.

“Not a single euro for housing in Fuerteventura”

The investment cuts also affect other sectors. According to Santana, support for irrigation in Fuerteventura has fallen from three million euros to 825,000 euros, a cut of 72.5%.

She was particularly critical of the situation over housing. “There isn’t a single euro for housing in Fuerteventura,” the MP said, questioning why the regional government has made no specific investment provision for the island amid a housing crisis.

On education, the president of Nueva Canarias warned that the allocation for the Antigua nursery school has disappeared, despite Education Minister Poli Suárez having promised it would open during this parliamentary term.

She also questioned the lack of investment to adapt schools to high temperatures and other weather events.

The budget, she explained, includes 800,000 euros for climate-adaptation measures across the archipelago, with no specific allocation for Fuerteventura.

She added that only one Fuerteventura school, CEIP Francisco Navarro Artiles, has a specific allocation in the 2027 regional budget.

Santana also recalled that the Canary Islands Education Act sets a target of investing an amount equivalent to 5% of GDP in education. However, according to the figures she presented, the share has fallen from 4.6% in 2023 to 4.1%.

Rubén Reyes, Unidad del Pueblo Canario’s candidate for the Senate for Fuerteventura and a teacher, also criticised the draft 2027 budget, saying it cuts the allocation for adapting schools to heat by 360,000 euros.

The candidate stressed the need to ensure suitable learning conditions, particularly as episodes of extreme heat become more frequent, and criticised the lack of dedicated funding to air-condition Fuerteventura’s schools.

Reyes went further, linking shortcomings in education to the Canary Islands’ economic and social situation.

According to the figures he presented, tourism contributed 23,375 million euros to the Canary Islands economy during 2025, while more than 704,000 people were at risk of poverty or social exclusion.

“How is it possible that an economy that generates so much prosperity and wealth continues to leave so many people behind?” he asked.

Reyes warned of the difficulties many working families face in paying rent, buying groceries and meeting everyday expenses, and called for housing to be placed at the heart of public policy.

The candidate defended the agreement reached by various progressive organisations and groups committed to Canarian identity to run together under the Unidad del Pueblo Canario candidacy.

He also voiced concern about possible rollbacks in workers’ rights, equality and protection from gender-based violence under a potential national government led by the Partido Popular with Vox.

On territorial issues, he opposed reviving initiatives related to prospecting and the exploitation of rare earths without assessing their environmental, social and territorial consequences.

Nueva Canarias announces numerous budget amendments

Natalia Santana announced that Nueva Canarias will submit numerous amendments during the parliamentary process for the 2027 regional budget, aiming to restore investment and revise allocations she considers inadequate for Fuerteventura.

The MP said they had already held meetings with various groups on the island and would continue gathering their demands to present them to the Parliament of the Canary Islands.