A citizen platform battles to create a space of understanding from which to denounce the social problems suffered by the population of Lanzarote and La Graciosa. Among its work, it is committed to fostering places of coexistence.
Just a few days ago, the Citizen Platform Lanzarote Civil Action denounced the racist comments and xenophobic that attacked on social media the Councilor for Citizen Security of the Arrecife City Council, Kevin Cortés (Popular Party), while the councilor warned the population of the risks of storm Therese.
"It is not about censoring anyone because we live in a society with freedom of expression, but certain limits must be set," said the spokesperson and head of the Citizen Action and Equality Area of the Plataforma Lanzarote Acción Civil Joanna Hernández.
Despite the fact that the also member of the Platform's board defends that "this situation does not represent the entire island of Lanzarote nor all of the Canary Islands", she points out that, as a society, "one cannot turn a blind eye" to this type of comments. "It is not about censoring anyone because we live in a society with freedom of expression, but it is true that certain limits must be set", she continues.
Hernández defends that criticism against political actions be given maintaining "a line of respect" and that "racist and xenophobic comments" or comments that "cross the line of respect" not be poured over any person.
Despite avoiding taking a political stance, Hernández points out that extremist parties "encourage this type of behavior to exist in our society".
However, it invites reflection on the importance of staying united and betting on coexistence and union. "We live in an increasingly individualistic way, we are in an era where overinformation leads us to that separatism, but we must not forget that we are part of the same land and that we must always seek a path towards the common good, towards what benefits us all".
A project to add
Lanzarote Civil Action was born in April 2024 and at the end of last year opened its new premises in Arrecife. Since then, it plans to carry out different projects to give visibility to the problems and concerns of the population. "The objective is to be able to reach places where many times institutions, due to workload or overload, do not reach, but rather prioritize other issues," he/she points out.
Among the projects it proposes is to denounce the difficulties of access to housing, the shortcomings in migration management, the quality of life of the population, water cuts, mobility and public transport, or tourist saturation.
With the message "For peace and friendship", Joanna Hernández, as spokesperson for this citizen platform, explains the importance of promoting peace "not only at a global level, as we already see how political discrepancies are affecting," but also "in our social nuclei." "We want to convey that we can live in peace, have a tranquil society," she adds.