Good news for the president of the Las Palmas Port Authority. The electoral alliance between Coalición Canaria (CC) and Primero Canarias (Prica) for the Nov. 29 general election has finalized the top of its Las Palmas list with Gáldar Mayor and commander of the faithful of the new unitary nationalism endorsed by CC from Tenerife, Teodoro Sosa, at the helm. The move, imposed by the force that emerged from the split with Nueva Canarias, pushes former lawmaker María Fernández into second place and spares Las Palmas Port Authority President Beatriz Calzada the electoral wear and tear, with an eye to her potential candidacy in the May 2027 regional elections.
Discontent with CC’s decision in Gran Canaria is intense, especially as polls disclosed in recent days by island and mainland media suggest that Vox, PSOE and PP will form an electoral steamroller in the Canary Islands on Nov. 29, leaving little room to win seats. Even so, nationalist sectors had defended a linked candidacy without surrendering electoral sovereignty to a new party with no established electoral culture, no founding congress, no members and no money. It is a provincial candidacy, not an island-based one.
What is happening
The initial logic of the nationalist camp placed former lawmaker and current director general of Transport María Fernández at the head of the Congress ticket, with Sosa in second place. However, Primero Canarias has leveraged its municipal assets to place Sosa first. The agreement provides for Fernández to seek the second spot and subsequently resign in order to lead the candidacy for the Gran Canaria Island Council in 2027 under the same alliance. Meanwhile, island councilor Minerva Alonso, a defector from NC, is being considered for fourth place.
Why it matters
The decision has caused deep discontent among CC’s organizational sectors in Gran Canaria. Various internal sources criticize the party leadership for sacrificing its renewal strategy to hand the leadership to municipal officials who have accumulated more than 15 years in local power under newly created party labels. The move also raises doubts about the ticket’s prospects in light of internal polling and means that Beatriz Calzada — who had appeared on Sosa’s initial shortlist as a potential running mate — will not leave her role managing the Gran Canaria port.
Coalition registration deadline approaches
The negotiating committees have finalized the electoral program and proposals for Madrid while putting the finishing touches on the Senate ticket, where the name of San Bartolomé de Tirajana councilor Ryuman Cardoso is gaining strength. Although the alliance’s public presentation had been scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 14, the parties postponed the event to complete the paperwork for registration. The legal deadline is this Friday, Oct. 16, the date set by the Electoral Commission to formalize coalitions in an eastern constituency where the nationalists will assess the effectiveness of this union against the fragmentation of the regional left.
The article Calzada spared from joining Sosa’s Las Palmas Congress ticket on Nov. 29 was first published on canarymaritime.com.
