SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE 19 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The commissioner of the Economic and Fiscal Regime (REF) of the Canary Islands, José Ramón Barrera, has vindicated the Canarian jurisdiction before experts from the Basque Country and Navarra, emphasizing that “it is time to value it and put an end to centuries of ignorance.”
According to the regional government, this was expressed this Friday during a day of reflection on the Basque, Navarrese and Canarian jurisdictions, which was held at the Círculo de la Amistad XXII de Enero, in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
Barrera pointed out that he is working hand in hand with the departments of Education and Universities of the Government of the Canary Islands “to ensure that our jurisdiction is studied at all levels of public education.”
“It is time to value it and break with this inertia of ignorance and detachment in which we have spent five centuries,” he lamented.
When looking for an explanation for the lack of interest that the population feels in the jurisdiction, unlike what the Concert generates among Basques, Barrera acknowledged that “there are things that we have done wrong.”
“I studied Economics at the University of La Laguna,” he said, “and they didn’t teach me anything about the Economic and Fiscal Regime of the Canary Islands. Then I was lucky enough to continue studying abroad and in one subject I studied all the special tax regimes, including the REF. “It’s incredible that that happens.”
In this regard, the president of the Cabildo of Tenerife and former Minister of the Treasury, Rosa Dávila, related the same experience. “I didn’t study it at university either. I think that all university students, and especially those in Economics, should know it and it is very important that in the future we can have an expert degree, a master’s degree or a doctorate on our regime,” he insisted.
Rosa Dávila and José Ramón Barrera participated in a round table together with the professor of Contemporary History at the University of the Basque Country, Txema Portillo, and the professor of Legal History at the Public University of Navarra, Mikel Lizarraga, which was moderated by Juan Luis Alayón, president of the Association of Tax Advisors of the Canary Islands.
When talking about formulas that bring ordinary citizens closer to relevant issues such as the economic regime, Txema Portillo paraphrased former president Adolfo Suárez.
“He said that what is on the street had to be brought to the level of the law. And I believe that for Canarian society to be interested in its jurisdiction, that is, to know that it has its own system, it must be transmitted simply and highlighting its benefits for everyone’s daily life. The same with the update of the REF, and its coupling within the general order of Spain and Europe. It must be very clear why it will be a good thing,” he stressed.
For his part, Mikel Lizarraga pointed out the need to keep the jurisdiction outside the political debate so that it can successfully penetrate throughout society.
“It is important,” he continued, “that it is not part of a partisan struggle and that its usefulness is palpable so that there is a unanimous feeling of support. In Navarra, all parties advocate the maintenance of the regional regime and that means that there is also no confrontation between citizens over this issue.”
Regarding the convenience of converting the complexity of the REF into “clear and simple messages,” as Portillo pointed out, Barrera called on professionals in the sector to engage in self-criticism.
As an expert in taxation, the commissioner admitted that “we professionals have not known how to make the REF understood.” Furthermore, he agreed with Mikel Lizarraga when he considered that “there will be no attachment among the Canarian population until the population feels that it helps them directly, as happens in Navarra.”