SPAIN. Canary Islands: Manuel Muñiz, State Secretary for Global Spain recently was on an official visit to the island of Tenerife to take part in the Study Committee on the EU Scenario for 2021-2027 on an invitation to the Regional Parliament of the Canary Islands. He attended various programs during his visit, and recovering post-pandemic mobility and ensuring that the summer tourism season is as close as possible to normal was his primary concern.
Participating in the breakfast-Q&A session organised by the Association for the Progress of Management, he reported on the government initiative entitled “recovering post-pandemic mobility at an EU and OECD (The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) level through the standardisation of measures that guarantee health and safety”. The State secretary stated his support for an international vaccination certificate as a complementary measure that could be the key for tourism.
“The government is working to ensure that the post-pandemic summer tourism season is as close as possible to normal”, he remarked and added that “we hope to see great progress in vaccinations in the second quarter of this year, with the aim of reaching 70% of the population”. The decisive element according to Manuel Muñiz, “will be the production and distribution of vaccines”.
During the visit, Manuel Muñiz also held meetings with political, business, and scientific representatives to promote the participation of the Canary Islands in Spanish foreign action over the coming years. He underlined the importance of structuring international policy within the Foreign Action Strategy 2021-2027 and reported on the work of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, EU, and Cooperation to foster the re-establishment of mobility to help the recovery of the Canary Islands.
Manuel Muñiz also had meetings with the President of the Regional Government of the Canary Islands, Ángel Víctor Torres, where he focused on analysing the Next Generation EU funds and the application of the Recovery and Resilience Plan in the Canary Islands, together with the international health certificate – a mechanism that the Government of Spain is advocating to facilitate the re-establishment of mobility, vital for the tourism industry of the islands. They also addressed the importance of the internationalisation of the economy of the Canary Islands.
Manuel Muñiz also visited the municipality of San Cristóbal de La Laguna, one of the 15 UNESCO World Heritage Cities in Spain along with the Mayor of the city, Luis Yeray Gutiérrez, and the President of the Island Council of Tenerife, Pedro Manuel Martín, and undertook to promote the visibility of the city “as a source of tourism, and as an economic and cultural attraction”.
