The CEO of Canal Isabel II, parent company of Canal Gestión Lanzarote, Mariano González, spoke at the Environment Committee of the Assembly of Madrid earlier this week to explain the situation of the integral water cycle in Lanzarote and whether, as La Voz advanced, the company is considering transferring the management to another entity.
"Cubic meter that we produce and does not reach the user, public meter that we do not invoice. Therefore, we are also harmed by the non-renewal of the network," said Mariano González, regarding the problems in the maintenance of the water supply networks of Lanzarote.
"What would you do, would you leave or not? No, we don't want to leave. We are responsible for the provision and fulfillment of the service to the people of Lanzarote, but if there is interest and it fits within the economic parameters, we would study any offer," Mariano González responded to questions from the regional councilor of Más Madrid, Alejandro Sánchez. The head of Canal Isabel II then added that "if you leave, you have to do it with your head and in an orderly manner."
It is a concession contract from 2013, "I am not going to go into why we entered there. I have also entered, I have found it and I have to manage it," said the CEO of Canal Isabel II during his speech.
Regarding the conflicts with the Water Consortium and the statements of the president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Oswaldo Betancort, who assured in August of this year that he had received a study that confirmed "the serious breaches" of Canal Gestión and that this "could lead to the termination of the contract", González denies that he has received that documentation.
"At this minute we do not have official remission of the report in which the Consortium says that we are in breach," said the CEO of the company this November. "Any breach must be reflected in the monitoring committee," said Mariano González, who assured that he had already conveyed to Oswaldo Betancort what the procedure should be. "We are immersed in a collaborative way with the Consortium so that the investments we have made are recognized, which are not recognized, but we have made," he continued explaining.
According to the accounts of December 31, 2023, Canal Gestión had then 64 million euros of accumulated losses. Mariano González then pointed out that the 56% of losses in the water network that is desalinated on the island, adds to the economic problems of the company. "It is a terrifying level of losses and this is Canal Gestión Lanzarote making the investments required by the concession, apart from the initial fee," said the CEO of Canal Isabel II, who insisted that the Water Consortium of Lanzarote is the one that must make the investments in the network to avoid water losses in the network.
"The Consortium itself now and before has recognized that it has to make investments. From Canal Gestión Lanzarote it has been reliably and constantly communicated that it is necessary to invest in the network. It makes no sense to produce that water and lose it," he stressed during his speech.
Losses of tens of millions
"Like any concession contract, the first years you have losses and then it goes up," defended Mariano González. The CEO assured that when, in theory, the accounts had to improve, COVID arrived, with zero tourism, and the war in Ukraine, with the increase in fuel prices.
"It is materially impossible for Canal Gestión, or Acciona, or any company in the sector to give positive results with those external circumstances," he continued defending.
"We are causing a loss of prestige and a discredit of the name of Canal Isabel II," said the councilor of Más Madrid Alejandro Sánchez, who questioned who was going to return all the money that Canal Isabel II has lent to Canal Gestión Lanzarote. Sánchez also assured that the people of Madrid "are not to blame for what Mr. Ignacio González and all his gang of thieves undertook all these operations."