The Governing Council has agreed this Monday, October 6, to the territorial legalization of five livestock farms in the municipalities of Ingenio, Firgas, and Arucas (Gran Canaria); Teguise (Lanzarote) and San Sebastián de La Gomera (La Gomera), according to the procedure outlined in Law 6/2009 on urgent measures regarding territorial planning for sectorial revitalization and tourism planning in the Canary Islands, which grants authorization to the activity and the corresponding buildings and facilities.
The measure represents progress in the reactivation process of regularizations promoted by the General Directorate of Livestock and in this case affects a total of 205 head of cattle on the three islands, mainly bovine, caprine, ovine, and equine, thus reinforcing livestock activity in the archipelago.
According to the records of the Industry, Registry, and Animal Welfare Service, the five facilities are registered in the Register of Livestock Farms (REGA), and as reflected in the comparative study of aerial photographs contained in the report prepared by GMR Canarias, their buildings are subsequent to the entry into force of Law 9/1999 on Land Management of the Canary Islands, so that the third final provision of the Land Law and Protected Natural Spaces of the Canary Islands applies.
The aforementioned regulations establish that the Government, upon proposal by the Department of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, and Food Sovereignty, in accordance with the departments with jurisdiction in land management and the environment, may agree to the territorial and environmental legalization of livestock buildings and facilities, currently in operation, that had been executed, without the corresponding administrative permits, prior to the entry into force of the aforementioned Canary Islands Land Management Law.
Likewise, the Governing Council's agreement establishes the health, environmental, functional, aesthetic, and animal welfare actions that must be carried out as a requirement for legalization within eighteen months from the day following notification, which may be extended for an additional nine months.
These authorizations approved by the Governing Council are part of a regularization plan promoted by the General Directorate of Livestock for farms built before 1999 that have passed a series of procedures. In this sense, the processing involves both the respective island councils and the municipalities where the farm is located, as well as other public administrations, including the General Directorate of Nature Protection or the General Directorate of Territorial Planning.
