The El Sol de La Graciosa Energy Community has publicly denounced the processing of a new maritime-terrestrial boundary promoted by the Directorate General of the Coast and the Sea that, if successful, would have a "critical and suffocating" impact on Caleta del Sebo, the only population center on La Graciosa. The entity also warns that this measure could become a worrying precedent for other consolidated coastal enclaves in Lanzarote, such as Punta Mujeres, Arrieta, or La Santa.
According to the collective, the proposal to extend the protection easement to 100 meters is being managed without a real public information process or citizen participation, generating serious legal and social insecurity in an area that already has one of the highest levels of environmental protection in the State. The extension would, in practice, mean the prohibition of residential and accommodation use in a large part of the town, compromising its present and future viability.
From El Sol de La Graciosa, they recall that Caleta del Sebo has been historically recognized as an urban center by different island, regional, and state planning instruments since the sixties, as well as by the current municipal planning. Likewise, they emphasize the contradiction between the management of the Autonomous Body of National Parks, which recognizes the uniqueness of the town, and the intervention of the Coastal Authority, which—as they denounce—"strangles" its development.
The president of the energy community, Nahum Cabrera, has warned of the social and cultural impact of the measure: “Costas wants to take away our homes, which are part of the history and memory of La Graciosa. Doing so, arbitrarily and without consensus, destroys the identity of our land”.
The entity also warns that this situation puts at risk European sustainability projects currently underway on the island, aimed at energy autonomy and the circular economy, which they consider a paradox: sustainability is demanded while the possibility of living and planning the territory is limited.
Faced with this scenario, the El Sol de La Graciosa Energy Community will promote urgent motions in the Cabildo of Lanzarote and the Teguise City Council to demand a technical and legal review of the boundary, the opening of a participatory dialogue, and a clear institutional commitment to the future of the town. "The future of La Graciosa cannot be decided in offices or imposed without consensus," they conclude