Four days ago, a French tourist, based in Barcelona, painted the facades of two old houses in Lanzarote. After sharing the process on her Instagram account, where she has more than 87.6 thousand followers, she received a flood of criticism. Now, she faces a fine of up to 3,000 euros for a minor infraction against the architectural heritage. However, the case has revived an already open debate.
The artist is Vanessa Alice and she took advantage of her visit to the island of Lanzarote to paint on the facades of two houses in ruins on the island. As a result of the controversy, she attended the Cabildo of Lanzarote, where she was received by the island's president, Oswaldo Betancort, and, as she shared on social media, they had "a constructive meeting."
At the same time that it was known that the island's Heritage Service filed a complaint against her and forced her to return the facades to their original state, Vanessa Alice shared a critical photograph on her social networks: "This is how the ruins of the heritage in Lanzarote are and the people of the island are very offended and sending me insults for my painting in this house, saying that I destroy the heritage of the island, it gives to reflect, doesn't it?" The image showed a traditional conejera house, from the 18th century, with the roof fallen and with remains of a decomposed mattress.
As she shared through her social networks, the island inspired her to paint again spontaneously after years without doing so. She decided that her canvas would be a house in ruins, in an unlocated place on the island. Along with that critical message, the author has apologized: "I'm sorry if my painting has created so much controversy and I'm sorry for having painted on a ruin of the heritage, but neither I nor anyone deserves to receive so much hatred from people who don't even know my work. In 30 years of painting walls, it's the first time it happens to me and I find it very sad."
