La Palma Government and Trade

Administration
La Palma, as part of the Canary Islands, depends on the basis of the different competencies of the Government of Spain, Canary Islands Government and the Cabildo Insular de La Palma.

Cabildo Insular de La Palma was formed from the Town Councils Act 1912, and is the governmental and administrative body of the Canary Islands.  It serves two main functions. On the one hand, it must serve and exercise the powers of the Autonomous Community and on the other hand it is the local body that governs the island.

According to Alejandro Brito, this institution is responsible for representing the Government of Spain on the island and manages all those powers that have not been transferred to the Canary Islands Government.  The headquarters of the Direction Island is in the maritime avenue of Santa Cruz de la Palma.

In the 2003 elections, Jose Luis Rodriguez Perestelo was elected as president.  He is part of the Canary Coalition, a coalition that won 49.7% of the votes, followed by 22.6% with PSOE and the PP with a 21.6% of votes.

In La Palma there are ten territories distributed among nine municipalities:

San Andres y Sauces:
1. Terrero San Andres y Sauces

Santa Cruz de la Palma:
1. Terrero Candelaria
2. Terrero Benahoare

Brena High:
1. Terrero Antonio Garcia

Deck:
1. Terrero de Villa de Mazo

Fuencaliente
1. Martin JC Terrero

El Paso:
1. Terrero-Tamanca The Manchas

Los Llanos de Aridane:
1. Terrero Camilo Leon

Tazacorte:
1. Terrero de Tazacorte

Tijarafe:
1. Terrero of Tijarafe

Member of common
Common is the Member of the Ombudsman in the Canary Islands.  This means the Parliament of the Canary Islands defends the constitutional rights and freedoms in the Autonomous Communities.  It is located on Street O’Daly in Santa Cruz de La Palma, with offices on each island.  It is not an administrative body of the island because it exercises its functions in the autonomous area.

Religion
The majority of the population of La Palma is Catholic.  In each town there is a patron saint whose feast day is celebrated throughout the city with pilgrimages, festivals and religious events.  The patron saint of the island is the Virgen de las Nieves, whose shrine is located in Santa Cruz de La Palma.  Bajada de la Virgen takes place every five years.  It is a big feast at which the patron saint is carried in a procession from the shrine to the island’s capital.

Business
Currently about three thousand acres of bananas are grown on the island, making La Palma, after Tenerife, the second largest banana producer of the Canary Islands.  There are also plantations of citrus fruits, avocados, vegetables, potatoes and grapes (used for the production of wine).  The transfer of water from the peaks to the gardens is done through a network of galleries and filter channels.  Livestock on the island is mainly goats, used for the procurement of milk and making cheese.

A growing source of income is tourism, which focuses on the areas of Puerto Naos and Los Cancajos.  The beaches of Puerto Naos and Los Cancajos bear the blue flag of the European Union, which guarantees a high level of quality.

Agriculture remains, however, the greatest source of wealth of the island.

Industry
Unlike agriculture, manufacturing and industry have a small presence at La Palma.  There are some establishments on the island that transform the products of the soil into consumer products or works of art.  Also, thanks to tourism, the construction industry has a growing presence on the island.  There is only one factory, a cigar factory in El Paso.  It employs three hundred workers and produces large quantities of cigars.  Germans are the main market for the cigars.  There are also small shops and embroidered silks.

Trade
The main exports of the island are agricultural products.  Nevertheless, the balance of imports and exports remains negative on the island.  That is, La Palma imports more than it exports.  Among the products exported are bananas, oranges, lemons and agricultural products.  The main imports, usually from the peninsula, are petroleum, consumer products, and electrical and mechanical products.