The president of the Cabildo de La Gomera, Casimiro Curbelo, has once again called for tax incentives for the ‘green islands’ –El Hierro, La Gomera, and La Palma– in order to improve their competitiveness and promote their socio-economic development.
«It’s not about giving anything away,» he pointed out in an opinion article collected by Europa Press in which he emphasized that it is about «providing opportunities where they are most needed» to «halt depopulation and revitalize the local economy.»
Curbelo details that the three islands «share a common trait,» a structural disadvantage due to geographical, social, and economic reasons in such a way that territorial dispersion, the loss of young population, the rising costs of basic services, the extra costs of double insularity, and the fragility of the business fabric «cannot be addressed with temporary or generic measures.»
«We need a tax system adapted to this reality, a tax system that doesn’t equalize the unequal, but corrects the unfair,» he explains.
Therefore, he proposes, among other things, a 50% discount on the regional section of the Personal Income Tax for income from work, tax deductions on income from movable capital, leases, and real estate income, exemptions on property transfers and documented legal acts for the acquisition of properties intended for economic activities, and reduction of taxes for companies following the incentive model already provided by the Economic and Fiscal Regime (REF).
«These measures have a dual purpose: to stimulate private investment and facilitate the establishment of new economic activities, especially in strategic sectors such as sustainable tourism, digital economy, renewable energies, or social health services,» he comments.
Curbelo insists that «no more studies are needed» as «the problem has been identified and so has the solution.»
In fact, he continues, «the Canary Islands Parliament has approved clear resolutions in this direction and the government itself has shown sensitivity, for example, with the compensation for the cost of fuel.»
However, he points out, «it is urgent to move towards a stable, structural, and ambitious tax framework that will be reflected in the upcoming regional budgets.»
For Curbelo, also spokesperson for ASG, this demand is a «non-negotiable priority» if we aim to achieve a «cohesive Canary Islands, with equal opportunities for everyone.»
In this regard, he has reiterated that «in the face of the unequal development model» that the archipelago carries, «differentiated taxation is an opportunity to reconcile justice and efficiency, to give the non-capital islands a new capacity for the future.»
It is, he indicates, «a tool so that no one has to leave their island due to lack of opportunities, so that living in La Gomera, La Palma, or El Hierro is not an act of resistance.»
