Activists and citizens of the platform Lanzarote tiene un límite, the origin of the regional movement Canarias tiene un límite, launched this past weekend into the interior of the illegal Papagayo Arena hotel in Playa Blanca, formerly Sandos Papagayo, to send a message against mass tourism, illegal hotels, and the problem with water management on the island.
For this mobilization, the activists entered the hotel from Las Coloradas beach, a public beach whose access road was privatized by the hotel establishment, against the law. With cloths in hand, buckets, and plastic bottles, the group went up the hotel stairs with messages written in English addressed to tourists that said phrases like "This hotel is illegal" or "Our water is in your pool".
This mobilization took place in the same week that in a single day 25 towns in Lanzarote suffered supply cuts and after years of problems with the supply and water management. During the protest, the activists began to extract water from the pool using a plastic bottle, filled buckets, and pretended to clean with kitchen cloths.
During the mobilization, the activists handed out pamphlets explaining to tourists that the hotel they were staying in is illegal. In addition, in the publication shared on social networks, they invite the population to take to the streets and demonstrate against mass tourism and its consequences this Sunday, October 20, at 12:00 noon in Puerto del Carmen.
The dark history of the Papagayo Arena
The license of this establishment, along with that of Princesa Yaiza and Son Bou, all three in Playa Blanca, are the only ones in the tourist town that have not been able to be legalized after being declared null by the Justice System for the irregularities committed during their construction.
Specifically, its license was declared null by the Justice System in 2007 by the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands for committing serious urban planning infractions. Then, in 2016 it was declared criminal by the Provincial Court of Las Palmas, which sentenced the then mayor of Yaiza, José Francisco Reyes, to six years in prison and disqualification and decreed the seizure of all his assets.
In all these years, the establishment has remained open to the public and housing tourists despite not having any authorization to do so. In addition, it has a demolition order issued by the Yaiza City Council in March 2016, during the mayorship of Gladys Acuña.
The southern council itself concluded that this establishment, located in a privileged location next to the Los Ajaches Natural Monument, was unlegalizable.
The General Directorate of Coasts published the final demarcation for Playa Blanca last July and determined that in this area the easement is 100 meters, which means that almost all of the hotel establishment is within the easement.
In this line, the Ecologists in Action association described this hotel as "one of the greatest symbols of corruption in Lanzarote", but despite this, the Cabildo of Lanzarote, led by Coalición Canaria and the Partido Popular, approved the initiation of the file to grant it the tourist authorization.
