The Minister of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres, announced this Friday, at an event held in Binéfar (Huesca), that he will not be part of the PSOE candidacies for the Congress of Deputies for the general elections on November 29, a decision with which, as he explained, he seeks to concentrate all his efforts on the objective of recovering the autonomous government of the Canary Islands in 2027.
"My will, my priority is to win the elections in the Canary Islands again," said Ángel Víctor Torres, confirming that other socialist leaders will occupy the starting positions on the lists for Las Palmas and Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
The Canarian PSOE clears up one of the unknowns of its candidacies
The decision of the also general secretary of the PSOE of the Canary Islands clears up one of the main doubts that remained open regarding the preparation of the lists for the general elections, after some sectors of the party contemplated the possibility that the minister would head one of them, an option that is now ruled out. Ángel Víctor Torres's resignation forces the Canarian socialists to close their candidacies for Congress and the Senate without one of the organization's most politically influential leaders, in a process that must culminate next October 15, when the Regional Committee of the PSOE of the Canary Islands is scheduled to meet in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria to approve the lists, before their definitive ratification by the Federal Committee of the party.
Despite being out of the candidacies, Ángel Víctor Torres has assured that he will actively participate in his colleagues' campaign and that he will dedicate "the maximum effort" to supporting the PSOE in the general elections. The move is part of the strategy of the Canarian socialist leader, who last September 18 formally presented his candidacy for the Presidency of the regional Government with the aim of once again leading the autonomous Executive.
Ángel Víctor Torres already presided over the Canary Islands between 2019 and 2023, a period marked by the COVID-19 pandemic and the volcanic eruption of La Palma. After the regional elections in May 2023, the PSOE lost the regional Government despite being the most voted force, after the agreement reached between Coalición Canaria and the Partido Popular to invest Fernando Clavijo. Now, the minister intends to convert that experience at the head of the Executive into one of the main arguments of his candidacy, in an electoral event in which pacts will again be decisive.
A new political pulse with Fernando Clavijo
Ángel Víctor Torres's decision anticipates the political confrontation that is emerging for the 2027 regional elections between the socialist leader and the current Canarian president, Fernando Clavijo. The PSOE will seek to recover the regional Executive, while Coalición Canaria and the Partido Popular will try to defend the majority that allowed their current government agreement.
With his resignation from the national lists, the minister clears his political calendar and concentrates his efforts on a regional campaign that he considers a priority for the future of Canarian socialism, in a scenario in which, as was already demonstrated in 2023, being the most voted force does not guarantee reaching the Presidency of the Canary Islands.
