CEOE in Las Palmas: Africa without its legal Clausewitz

Next week, the Santa Catalina Hotel hosts a business meeting on Africa, though surprisingly, there’s not a whisper on the agenda about a crucial topic like legal security across the continent. To paraphrase Erwin Rommel, the legendary 'Desert Fox', the strategy seems to have been planned with the foresight of an unescorted supply convoy: bold, yet exposed. Does this gap pique anyone's interest? Probably not. As Otto von Bismarck once remarked, "Politics is the art of the possible", and here, it seems the possible means steering clear of difficult topics.

To add a dash of intrigue, the forum features the absence of Tenerife’s business federation president, Pedro Alfonso (CEOE), replaced by his secretary general. The plot thickens with a twist worthy of Moltke the Younger’s maneuvers in 1914: a plan executed with precision, yet doomed to chaos by unpredictable circumstances. Tenerife’s First Instance Court has nullified his election as president in 2022, along with other strategic decisions, such as appointing Eduardo Bezares as secretary general. Alfonso’s leadership now resembles Swiss cheese—plenty of holes.

The court, in a decision fit for the annals of bureaucratic lore, granted 24 hours to rectify candidacy flaws—a grace period as conspicuous as a bad chess move to an opponent. Meanwhile, Tenerife’s economy, like a Panzer tank charging at full speed, continues its "robust" march, driven by tourism. According to the Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce, the island’s economy is so "robust" it might as well hit the gym in its downtime. Tenerife, the undisputed leader of economic growth in the Canary Islands, seems to have its secret weapon: tourism "pulling with force," like a heavyweight champion of island economies. The Chamber’s director general assures us the island’s economy maintains that "robust" tone, though one can’t help but wonder if that tone is more about a tourist tan than financial muscle. Could Tenerife be the new economic Sparta? Only time will tell.

Noticias de Gran Canaria I La Gaceta de Gran Canaria