The president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, María Dolores Corujo, has criticized this Friday the failure of the project, which proposed installing an autonomous bus in the National Park. A project that was signed in 2018 under the presidency of Pedro San Ginés.
"After spending more than one million euros, the consortium contracted to develop the vehicle certifies to us that the layout of Timanfaya is too abrupt for this type of experiment. Someone, perhaps more concerned about their resume and the opportunity to rub shoulders with certain technology firms, did not take it into account," she pointed out.
"We always knew that the problem of the Tourist Centers was not the workers but those who insulted and belittled them permanently. Therefore, the first thing we did was to put this Entity, so significant for the island, in the hands of capable people by aptitude, but also by attitude. As a result, social peace was restored and normality returned to the internal life of the company, undoubtedly two of the great milestones of the present legislature."
"But there is more, we have boosted the labor market with different selective processes to add hands and knowledge to the staff of excellent professionals of the Entity; we promoted up to 36 tenders for contracts for works, services and supplies in record time, we modernized the management and we opted for something as simple as selling tickets online to organize the visit and improve the attention of our clients," added Corujo.
"In addition," said the president, "we have restored the brilliance and splendor to the artistic and architectural work of César Manrique, we have boosted the sector of creativity and cultural production with a historical item of one million euros that will allow to unleash the talent of our artists to create a top-quality annual program."
Regarding the restaurant, the president recalled "that moment in which San Ginés and his people took all the necessary steps for public opinion to believe that it would only survive if it was privatized. That same restaurant is profitable today, as shown by the fact that this last month of May has invoiced as much as the entire tour operation. It is a support to our management model and a lesson of professionalism and teamwork to those who played so much and damaged the Entity."
María Dolores Corujo highlighted that the work done by the councilor, Benjamín Perdomo, and his team, "has allowed the restaurant of the Castillo de San José to receive two recommendations from the Repsol Guide, in addition to the 'solete' received by the Restaurante El Diablo, and that the restaurant of the Monumento al Campesino has obtained the distinction of traditional food in the Qué Bueno Canarias-Mahou awards."
Regarding the stores, the president indicated that they have also experienced an important transformation not only physical but also conceptual. Thus, she explained that "of the total of 63 suppliers with whom we work, 47 are artisans from the island compared to the 27 who supplied us in the previous stage". "This commitment to our land and our people is reinforced by the enormous effort we have made to buy as never before from local farmers, ranchers and fishermen," she added.
Regarding the challenges of the future, Corujo announced that "a definitive solution will be addressed to the problem of access to the Montañas del Fuego with two auxiliary parking lots, in Yaiza and Tinajo, and to recover the area of El Chinero for its visit." The president also announced that the Centers will have "almost entirely renewable energy before the end of the year thanks to a project financed by the Industry area of the Cabildo de Lanzarote."
In addition, in December 2023 the new Museum of the Casa de los Volcanes will be inaugurated, which will mix the essence of the first museum, with technology from the 80s and 90s, with the latest technological advances.
Balance to get out of the health crisis
The president made an assessment of the "extraordinary work we have developed to get the destination out of an unprecedented health crisis that led us to a zero tourism."
"As time went by and the hopes of a rapid recovery were frustrated, we were permanently connected with the main agents of the sector to be prepared to welcome in the best conditions the first tourist who arrived on the island after the pandemic. That commitment," assured Corujo, "we materialized it with a record increase in the contribution of the Cabildo to the Sociedad de Promoción Exterior de Lanzarote, which has gone from 2.75 to 3.75 million euros. 36% more that has allowed us to reach more issuing markets and undertake more promotional actions to return normality to the island, as is happening."
"In addition to the approval of our 2021 Tourism Sustainability Plan and having prepared ourselves for this year's edition with an ambitious Plan that contemplates the improvement of the accessibility of the Tourist Centers," explained Corujo, "we have submitted to a call from the Secretary of State for Tourism called Experiences of Tourism Spain that has a budget of 768 thousand euros."
"We continue to advance with the proposal of Lanzarote Premium with the celebration of workshops for the creation of qualified pilot experiences that will be validated by travel agents from United States, Canada and South Korea who will visit the island next October."
The president highlighted the incorporation of the destination to NECSTouR, the association of regions for sustainability and competitiveness, "which will allow us to generate projects and relationships in the field of sustainability and the fight against climate change." In this sense, she advanced the imminent signing of "the adhesion of Lanzarote to the Spanish Network of the United Nations Global Compact, which will accompany us in the management of sustainability in the social sphere."
Finally, she reported on the signing of the agreement with Segitur on the Destination Intelligence program, "which will allow us to carry out a diagnosis prior to the appropriate action plan."
