Ceuta's RUP status is a 'disparate' possibility, according to Matilde Asián, the Canary Islands' Minister of Finance and European Union Relations. Asián, from the Popular Party, assured that the singular juridical, political and institutional character of the Canary Islands cannot be compared with that of Ceuta and Melilla. 'We have a compensation for overcosts, because we are an ultraperipheral region and they must have a specific regime for this due to the circumstances in which they are, as being small cities or not having economic activities of a certain scope', explained the minister. Although Ceuta and Melilla have the right to a series of particular claims, Asián assured that they cannot be included in the characteristics of the ultraperipheral regions. 'We do not resemble Ceuta and Melilla in anything, beyond having structural deficiencies, but they do not have an ultraperipheral condition because they are very close to the continent', she said. The president of the Popular Party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, promoted the idea of Ceuta obtaining a status similar to that of the Ultraperipheral Regions (RUP) after a recent visit to the autonomous city. Asián assured that it is an 'artificial' debate and that she does not share the alarmist statements of economist Javier Sánchez Ruano.