The Coalición Canaria (CC) Political Group in the Cabildo of Lanzarote assures that "nervousness has settled in the socialist ranks of the Institution, with its councilors starring, one day yes and another also, public statements and press releases where "they shoot at everything that moves" with arguments without rigor".
"These days we have had to suffer," explains the nationalist spokesman Samuel Martín, "how the socialist island secretary, María Dolores Corujo, who has governed this Institution in four of the last six years, took the citizens for fools, asking herself and answering herself about miraculous solutions to the lack of housing."
"Those who define themselves as champions of the municipality do not execute concrete measures to contain growth where they govern, but we do hear the condescending speeches of the Lanzarote socialist representatives on how the Cabildo should deny tourist authorizations to private developers, even if it is to end the rubble and skeletons left on the island by the tourist moratorium," adds the nationalist spokesman.
From CC in the Cabildo of Lanzarote it is considered that the "irresponsibility and lack of rigor of the public representatives of the PSOE, and their insistence with the island president, leads them to star in daily press releases full of falsehoods." "One of these statements had to do with the processing of tourist authorization to some ruined apartments in Costa Teguise," he explains.
"The Cabildo does not have the power to grant urban planning licenses, a task that corresponds exclusively to the town councils. Our responsibility is limited to evaluating compliance with the Tourism Planning Law, reviewing aspects such as sustainability, parking and restoration, but always within the current legal framework," said Samuel Martín.
"A work inherited from the failed moratorium of the Psoe"
The CC spokesman also recalled that this project comes from the time of the tourist moratorium promoted by the Psoe, which was declared illegal by the courts and caused large compensations to owners. "The abandoned foundations of Costa Teguise became a symbol of speculation and the lack of planning that characterized the management of the Psoe," he said in this regard.
In addition, Martín stressed that "the Costa Teguise project represents an alternative to traditional mass tourism, highlighting that the current Island Government is working to transform a space that for decades generated a negative landscape impact into a modern and sustainable infrastructure." "We are solving the problems that the Psoe left entrenched," he stressed.
Terrible state management of housing
On the other hand, the CC Political Group in the Cabildo of Lanzarote criticizes the "incoherence and lack of action of the Psoe when it governs, whose management in Lanzarote and La Graciosa has contributed to aggravating the problems that affect the island today."
For the nationalist spokesman, "it is paradoxical that for María Dolores Corujo the main person responsible for the problems of lack of housing in Lanzarote is Oswaldo Betancort, and not the one who has promoted a disastrous state law and faces widespread discontent in this matter."
In the last five years, the Government of Pedro Sánchez has repeatedly promised a significant increase in the supply of protected housing. However, of the more than 300,000 announced, only 43,095 have been built, a figure that does not even reach 15% of what was promised.
"In the island sphere, the policies promoted or supported by the Psoe have aggravated housing problems. Their null management during the past term has not only been insufficient in the regulation of the vacation rental market, but has also not promoted effective initiatives to promote access to affordable housing when it governs," detailed Samuel Martín.
"On the contrary, while it was filled with empty promises, Corujo has allowed a model of tourist development that has intensified the pressure on the island's resources, including the real estate market. In addition, its inability to update the Island Planning Plan (PIO) has left urban growth unregulated, which increases speculation and makes access to housing difficult for local families," argued Martín.
The Cabildo is offering concrete solutions
From the formation in the Cabildo they point out that "people want real solutions, and that is what the Cabildo of Lanzarote and the Government of the Canary Islands have offered in recent months. Already in the summer of 2024, Fernando Clavijo and Oswaldo Betancort ratified the framework agreement to promote public housing and social rental in Lanzarote, a first step through which concrete initiatives are pivoting."
They add that "thus, and in a pioneering way in the Canary Islands, the Cabildo of Lanzarote has delivered to the Canarian Housing Institute (ICAVI) the 42 homes for affordable rent that it bought in Playa Blanca, mostly with its own capital." Previously, land had already been purchased to build this type of low-rent housing in other municipalities. A few months ago, the Canarian Government already approved the construction project of 136 social houses in Yaiza; and in a few weeks the works will begin to build the third building of the 400 official protection homes that the Executive is building in Maneje (Arrecife).
Finally, it announces that the Cabildo will soon launch a line of aid for 2.2 million euros aimed at the people of Lanzarote and Graciosa to facilitate their access to housing. "Those are realities, and not speeches that seek to deceive the population," concludes Samuel Martín.
