Just weeks after taking office as president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Oswaldo Betancort explains in the radio program Más de Uno Gourmet, presented by Carlos Chavaud every Friday on Radio Lanzarote, the reasons that have led him to directly assume the powers of Agriculture, Tourism and Economy and his plans to promote the island's gastronomy.
- Among his responsibilities he has directly assumed the powers of Agriculture, why has he decided to conquer Lanzarote from the countryside?
We are living in a monoculture called tourism, which has given us a lot of profitability, but we have not diversified the economy. With agriculture, if the natural resources of Lanzarote are exploited a little, employment is generated and there is also no generational replacement.
It is for image, environmental, economic model and nutritional responsibility. I am super excited to position infrastructures, with cutting-edge technology and a lot of training, through La Granja, or acquiring the Technological Center, and also positioning economic models such as Saborea.
"My goal is the presidency of Saborea, we have many things to launch at the national level"
- Saborea has been promoting the primary sector and local products for 14 years, do you think that message is reaching farmers?
Saborea was an island structure that moved the primary sector, restaurants, distribution, the environmental sector and the tourism sector. It was a vertebral axis, but in recent years it has not been promoted. We were the center of Macaronesia and a specific weight at the level of Saborea Spain.
I am trying to return to the origin. We have a restaurant like no other at the national level, we have a primary sector that, if pampered a little, begins to give its benefits and we have architectural spaces that give us a tourist image that must be highlighted.
"On the issue of water, I guarantee the primary sector that in a few months they will begin to see a different reality"
- How do you plan to promote the Saborea project?
Lanzarote is a tourist island with a medium-high hotel occupancy rate but where job insecurity exists and per capita income was falling. I believe in creating new market niches, new tourist models and everything also goes through gastronomy and it must be promoted.
I believe that we are at an optimal starting point and I am totally convinced that now that we have the primary sector and the restaurant sector aligned we can create a gastronomic tourism product that is an example in the world. My goal is the presidency of Saborea, because we have many things to launch at the national level.
"I don't want to consume more territory, my goal is to extend the average stay of tourists from 8 to 12 days"
- What plans do you have to help solve the water problem?
We are going to carry out an immediate action to guarantee farmers a minimum supply of water, especially in El Jable, the Vega de San José, and the north. I have told my counselor, the Consortium and the Canal, to guarantee me a minimum supply of water for the primary sector.
Investment is needed, accelerate the contracting lines and try to go to direct award taking into account the emergency. I guarantee the primary sector that in a few months they will begin to see a different reality.
Also in population centers that are currently suffering restrictions. We are going to carry out 118 interventions in 35 streets with the most dramatic situations in one year. At the same time, we are going to bring a mobile desalination plant from La Palma to make it available to the island of Lanzarote.
"Lanzarote meets all the conditions to have the headquarters of some national and international chef training school with regulated degrees"
- He has also directly assumed the powers of Tourism. What twist should be given to tourism in Lanzarote so that it is not always sun and beach?
We have 600 weekly flights. In 2022 we were visited by almost 2.3 million tourists. In 2017 we had 3.1 million. We have to reflect, I don't want to consume more territory, I want an island modernization plan with bonuses for the owners of hotel establishments and comply with the environmental parameters set by Europe.
My goal is to extend the average stay from eight days to 12 days, because with the same tourists we have more economic benefit and we don't have to grow in flights and emissions. The important thing is that once the tourist is here there are market niches internally such as hiking, ornithological tourism, gastronomic tourism...
"What I can do is improve services to lower the cost of living. For example, with more inclusive transportation"
- We have a school in Zonzamas where they are very professional, but they are not valued once they finish their studies. Do we have a pending issue in Lanzarote with the assessment and preparation of professionals in the hotel industry?
One of the things I told the economic promotion technician was that I wanted an agreement with Education to assert what exists and that restaurateurs give more importance to training.
I have also asked the technician to look for agreements with culinary schools such as the one in the Basque Country or others at the national level. Lanzarote meets all the conditions to have a specific headquarters or official headquarters of some national and international chef training school with regulated degrees.
- How can the Cabildo help ensure that the success of tourism in Lanzarote is reflected in the salaries of its workers?
Lanzarote is an island with very high occupancy rates, but what is generated is not redistributed in society. Everything has gone up except salaries. I wish I could raise salaries. What I can do is improve services to lower the cost of living. For example, with more inclusive transportation, with transportation aid.
Also in the housing section. There are people working in Playa Blanca who live in Corralejo because it is cheaper for them. I think there has to be planning, I have told the president of the Government of the Canary Islands, territorial and urban planning. It is not just about building official protection homes but also about building affordable homes. We are also going to regulate vacation homes, everything cannot be vacation homes.
- When you have a free weekend and go out to eat like any citizen on the island, how do you find the gastronomy of Lanzarote?
There is no gastronomic route like Lanzarote's. It is true that there are other islands that are rising, the Michelin stars are concentrated in the south of Tenerife, but I think that in Lanzarote we have two things that are fundamental. First, restaurants that are less than 20 minutes apart, which is highly valued by the customer, and second, a km 0 product that, if the taste is transformed a little, the sensation is different, that is why my commitment to promoting the primary sector as well.
We also have the illusion and motivation of all the restaurateurs. I want to make an interior modernization plan for restaurants at the island level, not just the exterior.
- What is Oswaldo Betancort's favorite dish?
Anything that involves seafood and fish will have me there. Sometimes I force myself to eat meat, because I always order fish and seafood.
