The agreement between CC and the PP establishes that between 2023 and 2027, the Las Palmas Port Authority will be controlled by CC and the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Port Authority will fall under the PP’s umbrella. Both parties have agreed that if they renew the institutional stability agreement in 2027 through 2031, nationalists and conservatives must switch roles: the PP will take control of the ports of Las Palmas, while the nationalists will take over the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Port Authority.
Business sources consulted this Wednesday in Las Palmas said that «in 2023 it was agreed that in 2027, if the agreement is renewed, CC will lose the ports of Las Palmas», but the problem for the Gran Canaria PP would be finding personnel. An executive in the port environmental sector in Las Palmas who asked not to be identified said that «perhaps a carnival expert in a port environment such as Las Palmas could be useful—there are many masks—but seriously, the PP has not won an election since 2011, and it is difficult to identify personnel with a political profile after such a long period of decline».
There are names
Nor should it be considered a problem if the person presiding over the Port of Las Palmas comes from Tenerife. Las Palmas does not have a Jens Meier, who has headed the Port of Hamburg since 2008. It is possible that the senior official replacing Beatriz Calzada at the ports of Las Palmas could come from the Tenerife PP if the theory of exchanging roles becomes reality—specifically, Popular Party (PP) national lawmaker for the Canary Islands Juan Antonio Rojas, a merchant marine captain and a person with the utmost confidence of Gran Canaria PP leader and candidate for the island’s presidency, Carlos Sánchez.
In Gran Canaria, the PP is a desert in terms of representation capable of providing leadership before businesspeople and imposing a measured course of action, with the exceptions of lawmakers Guillermo Mariscal and Carlos Sánchez and the regional finance minister, Matilde Asián, who has historically always opted for a low profile on matters of strategy and on positioning pieces on the chessboard of power and money.
The PP has not won an election on the island since 2011, and its approach in cities such as Las Palmas has been to opt for a right-wing socialist such as Hipólito Suárez, La Gaceta de Gran Canaria reports. Suárez Nuez speaks of being soft on the PSOE, and this September the PP’s municipal spokesperson in Las Palmas, Jimena Delgado, asked Mayor Carolina Darias (PSOE) to replace «confrontation» with a shared strategy to unblock pending projects in areas considered strategic for the capital in port zones.
Suárez packs his bags
The Popular Party presented Pedro Suárez, president of the Tenerife Port Authority, on Wednesday as its candidate for mayor of La Laguna in the next municipal elections, in 2027. «Suárez is a person committed to young people and to the challenges ahead in housing, commerce and mobility. He knows very well the needs of a municipality that needs to move forward and grow», the regional Popular Party leader added.
Domínguez highlighted the work carried out by the Popular Group on the City Council in recent years, having worked «seriously and putting the interests of the people of La Laguna above all else». He also encouraged residents of La Laguna to compare the PP’s platform and record with the reality of other municipalities governed by the party.
The article Juan Antonio Rojas’s Role in the PP’s New Port Power Structure in the Canary Islands was first published on canarymaritime.com.
