The possibility of installing a new First Attention Center of 72 hours for migrants in the area of El Polvorín, in Güime, has worried the residents of San Bartolomé. To address the debate, the mayor, Isidro Pérez, in an interview this Wednesday on Radio Lanzarote-Onda Cero, stated that "no migrant center will go to El Polvorín."
"There is a resounding opposition that I share as mayor and with the Government group," he clarified, and thus, "I convey it to the residents." From the Consistory, a message of tranquility has been sent. "May the residents of Güime have total and absolute tranquility that no center will go to El Polvorín," he clarified before the microphones of the morning show Buenos Días, Lanzarote. In addition, he wanted to thank "the good attitude of the residents in the meeting" he held with the citizens during the talks with the City Council.
Pérez highlighted that the area "is not suitable" for this type of construction, although he does not deny that the temporary reception center for foreigners will be carried out in the municipality. "I am not saying that it will not be in another place, but we show our rejection to it being done in Los Morros de Güime," he added.
A protected area
According to what the mayor of San Bartolomé has revealed, the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration of the Government of Spain requested information from the City Council in October 2023 for the construction of the center. "They asked us for information on the land and we replied that it was not suitable for construction," he assured. The location planned by the Migration portfolio "is not the most suitable," he argued, as it is an environmentally protected place.
"The land is not suitable by law, it is a plot protected at a landscape and environmental level," added Pérez.
As an alternative, the Consistory has proposed other locations to make the center effective. "There are other plots that meet the requirements for construction," reveals the mayor. For some time they "proposed alternatives," such as taking it next to the existing Montaña Mina reception center, located on the ascent from Arrecife to Montaña Mina. "In San Bartolomé we have an area of 5,000 meters suitable for this," recalls the mayor.
The importance of providing a solution
The mayor has highlighted the search for solutions in the face of the arrival of migrants to Lanzarote as "essential", while assuring the collaboration of San Bartolomé. "We will continue to be in solidarity with the massive arrival of immigrants," revealed Pérez, who advocates for assistance to the newcomers. "We have to give them decent conditions," he insisted.
In addition, during his speech, Isidro Pérez reproached Coalición Canaria for its lack of responsibility and its ability to worry the population. "Signing an agreement with PSOE to provide facilities for the migratory flow, now it intends to remain silent, alarm and misinform," he criticized.
Pérez stressed the need to act with facts and not just with words. "We all put on the flag of solidarity, but when the truth comes out, some parties bring out alarmism, but do not propose alternatives," concluded the mayor.
