The president of the Canary Islands, Ángel Víctor Torres, has said in parliament today that despite the end of the state of alarm, all the measures that are decided regionally are still in force, and that that although the TSJC didn’t endorse the curfew, it has supported the ‘most important’ measure, the limitation of the number of people that can meet, which he said is the priority for Public Health, as: "Even if there is no curfew, no crowds can occur."
This was stated in response to questions from the spokespersons of the parliamentary groups of the Gomera Socialist Group (ASG), Casimiro Curbelo, and of Sí Podemos Canarias, Manuel Marrero, about the measures to fight against Covid-19 and regarding the consolidation of co-governance and decentralization of the State after the end of the state of alarm.
In his speech, the president affirmed that all the measures that the Government of the Canary Islands have taken, and that fall within the competence of the Autonomous Community, are still in force, such as controls at ports and airports, the mandatory use of a mask, the limitation of hours in the commercial and catering sector, and restrictions on diverse spaces, among others.
Torres pointed out that, although the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands (TSJC) has not ratified either the curfew or the perimeter closures in the islands, it has authorized the measure that it considers the "most important", which is the number of people who can meet, and reiterated that the fact that there is no curfew does not mean that there can be crowds.
Torres stressed that socioeconomic recovery depends on how the pandemic evolves, much more so in the Canary Islands, and also considered maintaining co-governance as a priority, as well as the reactivation of presidents' conferences and sector conferences. “We cannot all go our own way. We have to share criteria with other autonomous communities,” he said.
Torres also appealed for individual responsibility towards the measures, saying that it is down to all of us to protect our future and act sensibly. "We are gambling not to collapse the hospitals, we are gambling that we do not have more ICU with patients risking our lives, we are gambling that there are no more infections. Vaccination is very important but we have to reach more population", Torres stressed.
In his opinion, “in the Canary Islands, citizens have been responsible, they are being responsible and they will continue to be responsible. We cannot forget that it is suffering a lot," he stressed after referring to the images of the concentrations organized to celebrate the end of the curfew in several Spanish cities.
“Society is tired. There have been many months of suffering but let's not throw away the effort made over this time, "pleaded the President of the Canary Islands Government.
