The president of the Lanzarote Tourism Federation and Asolan, Susana Pérez, made a technical visit this Monday to the areas of Costa Teguise most affected by the floods of April 12, together with representatives of the Cabildo and the Teguise City Council, with the aim of evaluating the damage caused by the rains on the ground and insisting on the need to adopt solutions, with the priority that the issue requires.
Pérez was accompanied by the mayor of Teguise, Olivia Duque, the deputy mayor and councilor for Tourism, Beaches and Urban Planning, Rita Hernández, and the Minister of Water of the Cabildo and vice president of the Insular Water Council, Domingo Cejas, as well as technical personnel from the Insular Water Council, to carry out a detailed analysis of the most critical points.
The tour allowed us to verify the most relevant damages and especially review the deficiencies in infrastructures such as the rainwater network and sewerage, manholes, drains, drainage systems and channeling of ravines, which have been identified as priorities to avoid future floods.
"We have analyzed the deficiencies in detail and now it is essential that this evaluation translates into the definition and execution of concrete projects that minimize the impact of new rains and protect this tourist and residential area," said Susana Pérez.
The visit included the critical points, together with the eight most affected hotel establishments, three of which have become inoperative and have been forced to close for between two and four months, with what this also means for 500 workers who have had to resort to a Temporary Employment Regulation File. In addition, they visited other facilities and businesses such as the Costa Teguise golf course and the Santa Rosa Sports Center, where the rains also caused significant damage.
"Unfortunately, what happened on April 12 reminds us that there are infrastructure problems that have persisted for some time in Costa Teguise," said Susana Pérez. In fact, eight years ago, when there was another episode of heavy rains with floods, critical points and necessary actions were already identified, both of insular and municipal competence, but Pérez regrets that they were not carried out. Among others, the works in the Barranco del Hurón are still pending, but the business association warns that other municipal actions are also necessary, as was evident during the visit.
For this reason, Asolan has also presented allegations to the document of Revision and Update of the Preliminary Assessment of the Flood Risk of the Hydrographic Demarcation of Lanzarote, which has been on public display until this Monday, May 5. The tourism business association "considers it essential to incorporate into this document the analysis of recent episodes of rain, especially that of April 12, or that suffered in Puerto del Carmen on March 4".
In its allegations, Asolan emphasizes that this document "must go far beyond a technical or merely informative exercise." In addition, it demands that "the areas of significant potential flood risk" be clearly identified, that concrete actions be planned to mitigate them, and that said planning be binding on public administrations, with clear execution deadlines and "consequences in case of non-compliance". "Omission must have consequences for those responsible for making decisions," warns the business association, which stresses that only in this way will it be avoided that this document "remains dead letter."
In this regard, it recalls that the recent tragedy caused by the DANA in Valencia has highlighted the failures of coordination between plans and the inaction and institutional abandonment to execute them. "Reality demands going further," she remarks, demanding that this review have practical effects and clear responsibilities so that what was already known could happen does not happen again.
At the end of the visit, the president of the FTL and Asolan thanked the technicians and the manager of the Insular Water Council for the evaluation of all the critical points and for their willingness to collaborate with the Teguise City Council, on whom most of the necessary actions fall.
"It is imperative that this visit marks a before and after and that Costa Teguise is finally a priority in public investment. The floods caused significant material damage and fortunately we have not had to regret any misfortune in terms of human lives, but we do not know what the next ones will be like. What we do know is that with climate change they will arrive, and our infrastructures must be prepared for it," concluded the president of the business association.