The Insular Executive of Coalición Canaria (CC) in Lanzarote and La Graciosa agreed this Thursday to commission a technical and legal study to analyze the feasibility of purchasing the Islote del Francés by public administrations. “The objective is to guarantee the public use and enjoyment of this emblematic space located in the heart of Arrecife”, highlights the insular general secretary of the Canarian nationalist formation, Pedro San Ginés.
CC recalls that the recent ruling of the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands, issued in February 2024, legally consolidates the public nature of the Islote, validating the legal basis of the General Planning Plan of Arrecife of 2004. This Plan already contemplated the qualification of said land as a General System of Public Use, with a formula for obtaining it that involved the registration of the piece in the public heritage.
“This is a historic opportunity for Arrecife and for all of Lanzarote. We cannot allow this strategic space to continue to be the object of speculation or remain abandoned. Citizens have the right to recover this place and make it their own. We start from the idea of allocating it to a congress center, auditorium and fairground, without discarding any other use that prioritizes the general interest, such as sports. In any case, we would bet on submitting our specific proposal to public consultation”, they state from the Canarian nationalist organization.
Of interest to all of Lanzarote
The president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Oswaldo Betancort, highlighted the strategic nature of this initiative from an insular perspective: “We are not just talking about Arrecife, we are talking about Lanzarote. The recovery of the Islote del Francés is a matter of general interest for the entire island. From the Cabildo, we will put all the necessary resources so that this project is a reality and so that it has regional and state support and financing”.
In that sense, San Ginés assured that “the operation to recover the Islote del Francés can become an effective formula for the Island to recover part of the enormous investment deficit it suffered during the years of the ‘Pacto de las Flores’. This project must be part of the commitment of the Government of the Canary Islands and the State with Lanzarote”.
For his part, the deputy mayor of Arrecife and spokesperson for CC in the Consistory of the capital of Lanzarote, Echedey Eugenio, defended that “Arrecife has been turning its back for too many years on a space that is part of its identity. It is not just about urban planning, but about dignity. The capital deserves a large public space facing the sea, and the Islote del Francés can be that place that connects people with their city and its landscape”.
In this regard, the Councilor for Urban Planning of the Arrecife City Council, Maciot Cabrera, stressed that “we are facing a key moment in the urban history of the capital. Recovering the Islote del Francés for the citizens means activating one of the great engines of transformation that Arrecife needs. There is political will, a legal basis and a firm commitment from the councilors of Coalición Canaria to achieve it”.
Coalición Canaria Lanzarote and La Graciosa will work from their different institutional responsibilities to promote this file and promote the necessary consensus between the different administrations. Likewise, it is committed to promoting citizen participation in the design and definition of the future of the Islote del Francés, once its public use is guaranteed, as decided in the Insular Executive of the Canarian nationalist formation.