Bergaz urges the Canary Islands Government to "show its face" economically with the burying of the "controversial" power line in the south
"Although the landscape is priceless, in order for Red Eléctrica to partially bury the new 132 Kw line, Mácher - Playa Blanca, millionaire economic resources are needed," Marcos Bergaz.
The socialist deputy for Lanzarote and La Graciosa, Marcos Bergaz, asked this Friday in a parliamentary committee the Minister of Ecological Transition and Energy, Mariano Zapata, about the economic resources that the Canary Islands Government will contribute to the burying of part of the controversial power line that is being executed between Mácher and Playa Blanca.
A project undertaken by Red Eléctrica de España (REE) for the installation of a new 132 kilovolt power grid, 17 kilometers long and which originally included the placement of more than fifty towers, some of more than 50 meters high.
As a result of the negotiation of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, during the mandate presided over by the socialist María Dolores Corujo, it was agreed with REE to bury the power line as it passes through the towns of Las Casitas, Maciot and Femes, to reduce the landscape impact of a project aimed at improving the distribution networks and the energy system.
The future burying would affect a section of seven kilometers, reduces the number of towers by almost half and involves an investment of 18.5 million euros, according to the Cabildo, through the signing of an agreement between the island institution and REE itself.
"The Canary Islands Government must also 'show its face' with economic resources to help finance the burying," said the deputy, Marcos Bergaz. "Because if the landscape is priceless, in order for REE to bury the power lines as they pass through the towns of Las Casitas, Femes and Maciot, economic resources are needed to make it possible," added the deputy.
"And of course, Bergaz continued, we must improve the capacity of the energy networks, bet on changing the energy model, but without undermining the island's landscape, our main heritage."
For his part, Minister Mariano Zapata reaffirmed the Government's commitment to provide resources, without specifying the amount, conditioning it to the formalization of the agreement between the Cabildo of Lanzarote and REE and the availability of the affected land, at which time, "we will enter via a nominative subsidy to the Cabildo of Lanzarote to collaborate with the burying," he said.
Finally, the deputy and socialist spokesman in Teguise urged the minister to "let it be so, because today the threat hangs over Lanzarote and its landscape, as in past times it fell on other islands. In any case, we must act to safeguard the landscape and natural values of our islands," Bergaz concluded.
