The Free Agrarian Platform of the Canary Islands (PALCA) has demanded "urgent measures" from both the Ministry of Agriculture of the Government of the Canary Islands and Asprocan, as it considers that "if the POSEI aid distribution system does not change and it is provided with transparency", the banana sector "has two years left".

The secretary of PALCA in El Hierro, Pablo Carmona, has substantiated this omen by pointing out that it is not profitable for farmers to continue producing plátanos and even less so in La Palma where there are about 5,000 small producers, "who are maintaining the social base of European aid".

Carmona believes that those responsible for the "critical" situation of the banana sector are both the Ministry of Agriculture, to which they ask for "greater transparency and control", and "the banana directors, who say that they are the representatives of the sector in the Canary Islands and are very much to blame for having come this far".

PALCA believes farmers are committing fraud "because we are seeing productions of 110 tons in one hectare, and we would like to know how the harvester manages to produce so much."

"That is why we are asking the Ministry for greater transparency in the paying agency, and that the production area of each beneficiary of the aid be put in the resolution, which is a common bag of 141 million euros and affects us all," said the island secretary of PALCA in La Palma. Amable del Corral. PALCA also requests the prohibition of entry into the system of new banana plantations in the European aid system POSEI and demands that a production cap of 60,000 kilos per hectare be established to avoid "the pica", in addition to reiterating the need for greater control by Agriculture over the fruit that reaches the market and that which is withdrawn.

The secretaries of PALCA have addressed "the banana leaders" to demand "the modification of the statutes of ASPROCAN to provide the association with democracy and transparency", as well as "the replacement of the current leaders for having exhausted ideas". The Free Agrarian Platform of the Canary Islands predicts the end of the banana sector in two years "if measures are not taken".