The new Minister of the Environment, Nicolás Saavedra, will take office this Friday and has explained some of the objectives he has for the months he has in office. Among them, he wants to create an Animal Welfare office, a Seed Bank and contribute to the improvement of the farms of people who, due to age or disability, cannot take care of them. In addition, he has indicated that he would like to have Rafael Torres as Island Director to help him with the management of projects and problems related to mass tourism in Montaña Blanca, Famara or the Volcán del Cuervo.
He takes office this Friday and will combine it with the Tías councilorship. How are you going to do it?
I need at least two people to be part of my team. As I have already said and I repeat, I am not going to be in the Cabildo all the time because I am still in my City Council and I want to finish and continue the next legislature with the Government I am with right now. So, I am going to continue maintaining my space in Tías, of course, with the agreements we have reached with Pepe and his team. Yes, I would like them to be part of my trusted staff, of course. And if everything can go through the Assembly, that would be ideal. I am clear, the people I am thinking of are people from the party, of course.
Who are they?
There is Rafael Torres, who is helping us with the Community Gardens project. He is a pedagogue by profession, but he finished his master's degree in Community Intervention and has just finished another in Agroecology. And a second person would be missing, which is what we are looking for. In Rafa's case, he would be Island Director and in the case of the second person, he would accompany us as an advisor.
Is this not yet defined?
We have some idea, but the truth is that we don't have anything closed yet. On this, I want to sit down with the rest of the Podemos Assembly. I like dialogue, consensus whenever possible, and we are going to try.
You are now entering the final stretch of your term, there is not much time left until May. What do you want to carry out from the Environment area?
I think everyone knows that in seven months there is no time to get into major territorial or environmental issues. If in all these years others have not been able to do it, I am not wearing a cape. But I am clear that during these months I want to focus on four or five issues. One of them I think is important because it is an island demand, the fact of having an Animal Welfare office. I think it is very important and there is quite a bit of sensitivity to this issue. It is not just a nod to animal rights movements, it is about seeking justice. On the other hand, something that Elena had already started is to find a space to locate an island Seed Bank, which is very important. Another proposal, of which I believe something has been done about it, well, it has begun to be processed, is to be able to obtain an agreement for 15 or 20 people to attend to the farms of those people who, due to age or disability, cannot take care of them. I always say that cultivating and caring for our fields is also creating landscape. And focus a lot also on the Biosphere reserve, because it will greatly influence our future. But the truth is that in practice I don't have time for many more things.
Have you worried about the Famara problem? Or do you think it is more the responsibility of the Teguise City Council?
That is an issue that I would like to take up again expressly. Famara is important, in fact it has been immersed in a participatory process. I don't know the results of that work of the participatory processes, but it is true that in Famara we have to take a measure and we have to do it now. While it is true that people have the right to enjoy the space, the rest of us have the right to go for a walk one day and find the Famara of 30 or 40 years ago, even if we are twice as many inhabitants on the island.
You could put pivots or have the Local Police there to issue fines, because that is getting out of hand. There are places where cars could not be, you find them even on top of the dunes.
I think the same, we have to take what is happening seriously. Sanctioning, of course, is not the best solution. But it is the one we have closest at hand right now. We have to start making it clear that they are going to be real, effective.
Peñas told me a few days ago that he is signing sanctions, but something is happening, because they are not arriving. We will have to get tougher.
I still think that, for an island like ours, which is also a Biosphere Reserve, nine environmental technicians are insufficient. It's not just Famara. We are experiencing it in other municipalities. It is happening in Montaña Blanca, in the Volcán del Cuervo, in countless places that must be taken care of. It is our heritage, and not only environmental. We are full of talk about tourism, but tourism does not come to see hotels, it comes to see what we are as an island, at a cultural and landscape level. And that must be taken care of without a doubt. And in the case of Montaña Blanca, the danger that it entails.
Since you mention this, what are you thinking about this serious issue in the Tías City Council?
We have sent that countless times because it is a road of the Cabildo. We have taken it to the Cabildo many times saying that we have to find a solution. In addition to protecting the space, I think I know that there is also some heritage interest in the area, but we must also protect the lives of people. There is a tunnel that allows them to go underneath and nobody uses it. You come from the town of Montaña Blanca and, as you take the curve, you find eight, nine or ten people crossing there. And when you see them, you already have them on top of you.
Can't the City Council do anything there?
Without the authorization of the Cabildo, no. The only thing we have is a small 60x40 centimeter sign that indicates that you can go through the tunnel, without the need to go over and avoid human tragedies. But we also have to put a solution regarding the space to protect.
In the Volcán del Cuervo they put a parking lot and it is overcrowded
And visitors do what they want. The other day I stopped in the parking lot and saw a man who had his hands full of olivine stones. And it has unfortunately become normalized for those of us who live on this island, which we must protect.
