In addition to budget modifications and credit recognitions totaling almost 13 million euros for service costs, subsidies, invoices, court rulings, promotion, projects, and purchases, the Plenary approved, as a matter of urgency, 1.370.000 euros to supplement technical discrepancies in the costs of the project to expand classrooms for Secondary and Baccalaureate students at the IES El Tablero-Aguañac.
The Plenary of the Municipal Corporation of the City Council of San Bartolomé de Tirajana unanimously agreed this Thursday, in its ordinary session corresponding to the month of April, to establish an official twinning with the Association of Galician Municipalities of the French Way of St. James: Pedrafita do Cebreiro (O Cebreiro), Triacastela, Samos, Sarria, Paradela, Portomarín, Monterroso, Palas de Rei, Melide, Arzúa and O Pino, with the municipalities of Tejeda and the city of Gáldar also joining this proposal.
This initiative was initiated by Mayor Marco Aurelio Pérez Sánchez with the aim of promoting the Gran Canaria Camino de Santiago at a national and international level, particularly with a view to enhancing it in the lead-up to the Holy Year of Compostela in 2027, and contributing to the cultural and socioeconomic development of the midlands of the municipality of San Bartolomé de Tirajana, where Tunte and its Church of Santiago are strategic locations along this pilgrimage route. “The churches of Santiago de Gáldar and Santiago de Tunte are important on this route because both have held papal bulls since 1992, granting them full rights to participate in the celebrations of the Compostela Holy Years.”
The twinning agreement has already been replicated in the town halls of the Galician municipalities involved, and even on April 9, the three Gran Canaria mayors of the Camino ratified in a document the initial commitment before the Councilor for Tourism and Economic Promotion of Arzúa and president of the Galician Commonwealth, Begoña Balado, and the rest of the representatives of the joint municipalities.
To experience the Camino de Santiago in Gran Canaria, the mayors of the Galician municipalities visited the island last October, paying a visit to the churches of Santiago de Tunte and Gáldar. That trip was organized as part of the 'Camino de los Valores' (Way of Values) project, which has been in development for nine years by Reyes Martel, the magistrate of the Juvenile Court No. 1 of Las Palmas.
José Cabrera Blanch Roundabout
The Plenary also unanimously agreed to name the roundabout located at the intersection of the avenues of the tour operators Tui and Air Marin in Campo Internacional after José Cabrera Blanch in memory of the tourism entrepreneur who owned the Princess Hotels & Resorts chain, who died at the age of 80 on April 10, 2021.
Born in L'Ampolla (Tarragona) in 1940, Cabrera Blanch went to Germany and England to study languages. During the 60s, he worked as general manager for the English tour operator Thomson Travel, a position he left in 1967 to open his first hotel in Salou, on the Costa Dorada, which he helped to develop as a tourist destination.
After founding two travel agencies and co-founding the Hotel Delfín Park in Salou with Jordi Espelt (H10 Hotels), he and his partner decided to open their first hotel in the Canary Islands in 1984: the Hotel Conquistador in Playa de Las Américas, Santa Cruz de Tenerife. A year later, the two partners decided to separate and create the Princess and H10 chains. In 2000, Princess expanded into the Caribbean. The hotel chain founded by Cabrera Blanch offers approximately 20.000 tourist beds in a total of 21 establishments, 12 of which—representing half of the total beds—are located in the Canary Islands.
Budget modifications
Likewise, the Corporation approved in this plenary session three budget modifications and two credit modifications charged to the liquid treasury surplus for an approximate amount of almost 13 million euros to pay judgments and late payment interest; return of settlements; the payment of invoices for services, supplies and works carried out by companies external to the City Council; the holding of fairs for the promotion of the primary agricultural-livestock sector; subsidize cultural and promotional events of the Maspalomas Costa Canaria tourist brand, such as the classical music concerts of the Frantz & Friends Festival 2026 or the CaribeMix, Meloneras Beach Festival and Warrior Race by Playland events, among others; also to subsidize athletes, clubs and sporting events such as the 27th edition of the North Face Transgrancanaria, the XV edition of the Maspalomas Open Water, the XII Maspalomas Cup, the Maspalomas Domino Open, the III Gran Canaria U14 Women's International Basketball Tournament, the IX Pilancones Tunte Trail, the 53rd edition of the Maspalomas Rally, the II Elements Games Híbrida del Pueblo, the Fataga Rally Climb, the II Maspalomas Hybrid Race, the VI Costa Canaria Cup, the IV Traiña Bike Ceisa, the IX EPIC Gran Canaria, the Mastlan Club of Maspalomas Atlántica and the Canary Association of Minors with Special Needs SUMAS for its inclusive swimming project; but also to cover public service expenses such as street and beach cleaning and waste collection, the purchase of containers for the mandatory installation of the fifth container and the cleaning of schools, colleges and other municipal facilities; also to cover the operational needs of the different bodies that provide municipal security and emergency services; the payment for the Il Divo Concert in Maspalomas at Christmas 2022; the contracting of technical services for the drafting of the basic and execution projects of the new Maspalomas Fire Station on the site of the current one and replacing the existing facilities to adapt them to the operational and functional needs and the regulations of the service and, among others, to include in the municipal strategic plan of subsidies by the Department of Agriculture a budget item of €10.000 for the renewal of the pipes and irrigation and water pumping systems of the Fataga Irrigation District 'Upper and Lower Ditches' which were badly damaged by Storm Therese.
urgent
Also in the section on urgent matters, a budget modification was approved to supplement with 1.370.000 euros of liquid surplus from the Treasury the credits necessary for the execution of the expansion project of the IES El Talbero I-Aguañac with 12 new classrooms for Secondary and Baccalaureate.
Tax Agency
Also, in this session the plenary was informed of the signing of the new addendum that renews until March 7, 2030 the cooperation agreement that the City Council entered into in March 2022 with the Tax Agency to receive information from said body necessary for the processing of files in which taxpayers are required to be up to date with their tax obligations.
Housing in El Tablero
The plenary session also approved a modification to the September 2025 agreement, which had originally requested funding from the Canary Islands Housing Institute for the construction of 38 public housing units on plots 7 and 10S in the T4 sector of El Tablero. This modification was necessary because the technical supervision phase revealed that construction could only proceed on plot 7, as plot 10S lacked the required zoning classification for social housing. The City Council's request resulted in the granting of a €6 million subsidy for this project on December 31st.
Against child slavery
In the motions section, the Corporation approved an institutional declaration submitted by the Canary Islands Federation of Municipalities (FECAM) to raise awareness and mobilize local councils and other public institutions for World Day Against Child Slavery, observed every April 16th in commemoration of the 1995 murder of Iqbal Masih, a child who fought against child exploitation in Pakistan, becoming a symbol of the defense of children's rights. Currently, according to the motion, 138 million children are working, and more than 50 million do so in dangerous conditions. The causes of this child labor, it warns, are linked to poverty, inequality, social exclusion, lack of access to education, and situations of vulnerability and/or violence.
