Fuerteventura’s Renewable Energy Surge: A New Era for Sustainable Business
Harnessing the island’s natural resources positions Fuerteventura as a leader in green innovation.
Fuerteventura, one of the jewel islands of the Canaries, is poised for a transformative leap as it invests heavily in renewable energy solutions. With a commitment to sustainability, the local government is incentivizing businesses to adopt clean energy technologies. This initiative not only aims to reduce the island’s carbon footprint but also seeks to cultivate economic growth through the green sector. Entrepreneurs are increasingly flocking to opportunities that align ecological responsibility with profitability, setting the stage for Fuerteventura to become a renewable energy powerhouse.
Wind and solar power are at the forefront of this initiative, as the island’s unique geographical features provide ideal conditions for both. Wind farms are set to expand, while numerous solar projects are underway, guaranteeing that local enterprises have access to sustainable energy sources. This dual approach not only enhances energy security but also attracts investments that bolster the local economy. As global attention shifts toward sustainability, Fuerteventura’s innovative ventures may serve as a benchmark for other regions aiming to pivot away from traditional energy sources.
The roadmap for the future is clear: a thriving economy rooted in sustainable practices. This integration of technology and environmental stewardship is not just a win for the planet but creates a valuable framework for startups and established businesses alike. By aligning economic goals with environmental imperatives, Fuerteventura is unfurling a business landscape ripe for innovation and success, thereby showcasing how green initiatives can fuel robust economic outcomes.
Source: Gobierno de Canarias.
COMMUNICATION FROM MIGUEL SOCORRO Miguel Ángel Socorro Perdomo, a career official of the Island Council of Fuerteventura, has taken the Government of the Canary Islands to court for the alleged violation of the fundamental right to petition, recognized in article 29 of the Spanish Constitution, after not receiving a response to a request presented on May 14, 2026. Judicial procedure 491/2026, processed before Plaza number 1 of the Court of Instance of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, has its origin in a historical demand: the definitive integration of the residence compensation in complementary remuneration, provided for in regional legislation since 1989. The demand has an enormous social and labor dimension, potentially affecting almost 150,000 public employees in the Canary Islands, according to the promoter’s estimates. This is an issue that transcends administrations, bodies, scales and professional categories, and that reaches the staff of the autonomous Administration (Advisory Council, Audience of Accounts of the Canary Islands, Deputy of the Common, Canarian Health Service, Canary Employment Service, Canarian Tax Agency, Economic and Social Council, Canary Islands Institutes, ..), Cabildos, City Councils, companies and public organizations, universities, teachers, personnel transferred from the Administration of Justice and local police and autonomous communities, among other groups. We are not facing a demand from a specific sector, but rather a question of pay justice that concerns all public employment in the Canary Islands, regardless of the Administration to which each worker belongs. ALMOST 40 YEARS OF UNJUSTIFIABLE TRANSITORY Law 2/1987, of the Canarian Public Service, established that the specific complement can compensate the “place of residence.” Subsequently, Law 3/1989, on Budgets of the Canary Islands, contemplated the integration of the residence compensation in said complement, temporarily maintaining its separate perception. However, almost 38 years later, that integration remains pending. «How is it possible that a situation that the legislator himself declared transitory in 1989 continues to be in force almost forty years later? What was born as a provisional measure has become a retributive injustice perpetuated for decades. Maintaining this situation for so long constitutes a real lack of respect and consideration towards the almost 150,000 public employees of the Canary Islands. “No transitory nature can serve as an excuse to justify four decades of non-compliance with a legal provision,” denounces Miguel Socorro. THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE ALREADY HAS PRECEDENTS OF INTEGRATION One of the main arguments of the claim is that the State has already regulated the integration of the territorial component of residence in the complementary remuneration of certain groups of the Administration of Justice. Law 15/2003, Royal Decree 1130/2003 and Royal Decrees 1170/2007 and 1171/2007 constitute relevant normative references for judges, magistrates, prosecutors and judicial secretaries, currently lawyers of the Administration of Justice. In these groups, the territorial component is linked to the destination complement due to special circumstances, with the corresponding economic impact in accordance with their specific remuneration regime. This means that, as it is integrated into the destination complement and forms part of the extraordinary payments, said territorial component is received, in practice, fourteen times a year: twelve ordinary monthly payments and two extraordinary payments. This is, therefore, a particularly relevant remuneration difference with respect to those public employees of the Canary Islands whose residence compensation continues to be configured as a separate concept, without being integrated into complementary remuneration or projected onto extraordinary payments. On the contrary, the rest of the public employees of the Canary Islands continue to receive the residence compensation as a separate concept, in twelve monthly installments, without the same impact on extraordinary payments. “Why did the State regulate more than twenty years ago the integration of residence in the complementary remuneration of these groups, while many public employees continue to receive it separately and without the same impact on extraordinary payments?”, questions the official. Socorro Perdomo insists that it is not enough to update the residency amounts: it is necessary to address their definitive integration into complementary remuneration, through the corresponding legal reforms, to achieve equivalent remuneration treatment and its adequate impact on the fourteen annual payments. THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CANARY ISLANDS DID NOT RESPONSE AND THE COURT WARNS OF FINES On May 14, 2026, the Head of the Budget Management Service of the Island Council of Fuerteventura presented a fundamental right of petition requesting the definitive integration of the residence compensation, the evaluation of its economic impact and the assessment of possible reparation measures. The Government of the Canary Islands did not respond within the legal period of three months, which led to the filing of a lawsuit for alleged violation of the fundamental right to petition. Furthermore, by means of a procedure dated October 2, 2026, the court required the Autonomous Administration to explain, within a non-extendable period of five days, why it had not sent the administrative file, warning of possible coercive fines of between 300 and 1,200 euros, reiterable every twenty days. According to the plaintiff, the Government of the Canary Islands did not respond in a timely manner to the Common Deputy nor did it incorporate the communications from said institution into the judicial file. «First they ignore a fundamental right recognized in the Constitution. Then they ignore the request of the Common Deputy within the granted period. And, finally, a court has to intervene to demand the submission of the administrative file. Is this the transparency, respect for fundamental rights and exemplarity that can be demanded of a public Administration? How can the Government of the Canary Islands demand that citizens comply with their obligations when it is the Administration itself that fails to comply with its obligations? It is unacceptable that a citizen has to go to court to get something as basic as a response from their own Administration. Administrative silence cannot become a strategy to avoid responsibilities or to perpetuate for decades a remuneration injustice that affects thousands of public employees in the Canary Islands,” denounces Miguel Socorro. The lawsuit seeks to recognize the violation of the right to petition and to force the regional government to respond expressly, without requesting the court to directly recognize economic amounts. A POSSIBLE ECONOMIC LOSS AND A CALL FOR UNION UNITY Miguel Socorro considers that maintaining compensation for residence as a separate concept for almost four decades could have caused important accumulated economic consequences, especially due to its lack of impact on extraordinary payments, according to the regime applicable to each group. For this reason, it calls on all union organizations with representation among public employees in the Canary Islands to establish a joint union platform that demands a definitive solution. «We cannot continue fighting separately. We are talking about almost 200,000 public employees. Union unity is essential to achieve what has not been achieved for almost forty years. The negotiation, he insists, should not be limited to updating the current residency amounts, but should pursue their definitive integration into complementary remuneration, taking as reference the existing precedents in the Administration of Justice. THE CLAIM ALSO REACHES THE GOVERNMENT OF SPAIN: CANARY ISLANDS, BALEARIC ISLANDS, CEUTA, MELILLA AND THE ARAN VALLEY The claim has taken a new step. On October 19, 2026, Miguel Ángel Socorro Perdomo formulated a new fundamental right to petition before the Secretary of State for Public Function, requesting the Government of Spain to consider promoting a regulatory initiative to integrate residence compensation into the complementary remuneration of public employees assigned to the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands, Ceuta, Melilla and the Aran Valley, in cases in which this concept is recognized. The petition is based on two state provisions of special relevance: article 25.Uno.e) of Law 37/1988, on the General State Budgets for 1989, and article 19.Uno.e) of Law 4/1990, on the General State Budgets for 1990. Both expressly established the transitional nature of the residence compensation until the complementary remuneration was adjusted. of jobs to the specific circumstances of the affected territories. Almost forty years later, many public employees continue to perceive this compensation as a separate concept, without a general regulatory solution having materialized to put an end to that transitory nature. In the Canary Islands, this state initiative has special relevance for the staff of the Government Delegation and Subdelegations, State Tax Administration Agency (AEAT), Social Security, National Police, Civil Guard, Armed Forces, Penitentiary Institutions, State Public Employment Service (SEPE), State Meteorological Agency (AEMET), State Customs, Coasts and Highways, among other organizations and services of the General Administration of the State. The petition also recalls that the State itself has already established precedents for the integration of amounts linked to residence in the complement of assignment of judges, magistrates, prosecutors and lawyers of the Administration of Justice, through Law 15/2003 and Royal Decrees 1130/2003, 1170/2007 and 1171/2007. This integration can have a particularly important economic consequence: when the territorial component is part of a supplement that can be counted in the extraordinary payments, its receipt can be extended to fourteen annual payments, compared to the twelve monthly payments in which the residence compensation is usually paid as an independent concept, according to the applicable regime. «If the State itself contemplated more than twenty years ago the integration of residence in the complement of destinations of judges, magistrates, prosecutors and lawyers of the Administration of Justice, what justification is there for that, almost forty years after the budget forecasts of 1989 and 1990, thousands of public employees continue waiting for an equivalent solution? We do not ask for privileges. We ask that the Government explain how long it plans to maintain a situation that the legislator himself expressly described as temporary,” Socorro Perdomo denounces. The initiative requests from the Government of Spain an express and motivated response on the convenience of promoting a legislative or regulatory reform that allows this situation to be overcome, respecting the remuneration particularities of each group and the powers of the different administrations. 2027 MUST BE THE YEAR THAT ENDS THIS WAGE INJUSTICE The preparation of the Canary Islands Budgets for 2027 and the corresponding state regulatory initiatives represent an opportunity to put an end to this situation. «We do not ask for privileges or favored treatment. We ask to put an end to endless transience, unjustified pay differences and the lack of implementation of an integration planned since 1989. Miguel Socorro concludes with an appeal to political and union leaders: «The claim is already raised before the Government of the Canary Islands, before the courts and now also before the Government of Spain. After almost forty years, the time has come to move from promises and transitional provisions to definitive solutions. The year 2027 must mark the end of this pay injustice,” the official concludes.
Originally reported by www.lavozdefuerteventura.com, rewritten by the Fuerteventura Times AI Editorial Desk.
