The Government delegate in the Canary Islands, Anselmo Pestana, has inaugurated today in Puerto del Rosario the information day for companies Aid for the transport of goods in the Canary Islands, organized by the Government Delegation in the Canary Islands and the Official Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Services and Navigation of Fuerteventura.
The inauguration of this day, held at the Insular Youth Center of the Cabildo of Fuerteventura, was also attended by the Subdelegate of the Government in Las Palmas, Teresa Mayans, the island director of the General Administration of the State in Fuerteventura, María Jesús de la Cruz, and the president of the Official Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Services and Navigation of Fuerteventura, Juan Jesús Rodríguez.
The objective of the day is to offer complete information to companies with a presence in Fuerteventura so that they have knowledge of the procedures and requirements necessary to apply for the aid managed by the Functional Area of Promotion of the Government Delegation in the Canary Islands for the transport of industrial, agricultural and banana goods to or from the archipelago.
The Government of Spain is “aware of the difficulties involved in our status as an outermost territory and of the need to have mechanisms to guarantee equal conditions for our companies and our agricultural sector within the European single market. In this sense, aid for the transport of goods plays a key role in mitigating the extra costs derived from insularity and strengthening the competitiveness of our products,” said Anselmo Pestana.
“I am convinced that this aid not only benefits companies directly, but also has a positive impact on the economy as a whole, promoting job creation, the development of new business opportunities and, ultimately, the well-being of the entire Canary Island society,” he added.
In recent years, the budgetary appropriation established by the State to deal with this aid is being declared extendable, which allows that, although initially there is a specific item to finance it, it can subsequently be increased to cover 100% of the costs justified by companies, which has happened again in 2024, when a credit extension of more than 26.5 million euros was approved in the subsidies granted to the transport of bananas and industrial goods.
Three types of subsidies for freight transport
The Functional Area of Promotion of the Government Delegation manages three types of aid for freight transport in the Canary Islands, differentiated according to its regulatory standard according to the type of goods and financing: transport subsidies in the industrial sector (co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund - ERDF), transport subsidies in the agricultural sector, and banana transport.
In 2024, just over EUR 105 million in grants were awarded, an increase of 18.41% on the approximately EUR 88.7 million granted the previous year.
Specifically, €63,698,135.56 has been granted to 197 beneficiaries in terms of aid to the industrial sector (55,062,682.73 euros in 2023), regulated by Royal Decree 147/2019, of 15 March, on compensation for the maritime and air transport of goods not included in Annex I of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, with origin or destination in the Canary Islands.
Likewise, the granting of 18,993,801.90 euros to 162 beneficiaries has been resolved favourably in relation to the subsidies to the agricultural sector (17,545,333.05 euros in 2023), regulated by Royal Decree 552/2020 of 2 June, on compensation for the maritime and air transport of goods included in Annex I of the TFEU, with origin or destination in the Canary Islands.
And 22,318,306.45 euros have been granted to 8 beneficiaries in subsidies for the transport of bananas, the announcement of which is published every year in the Official State Gazette (BOE), in accordance with the provisions of articles 17.3.b and 20.8.a of Law 38/2003, of 17 November, General Subsidies.
In the latter case, there has been an increase of 38.84% in the amounts granted in aid for the transport of bananas compared to the 16,074,892.14 euros granted by the Government Delegation in the Canary Islands in 2023, since the number of beneficiaries in the register is significantly lower than the other two aid for transport due to the concentration of the applications of banana producers in associations and cooperatives.