Costa Teguise could join in the not too distant future the towns of Puerto Calero and Playa Blanca and have a marina. This was decided this afternoon by the Municipal Plenary of Teguise, meeting in ordinary session at the Spinola Palace in the Villa. It was undoubtedly one of the most interesting approvals of the day, in what has been a plenary session full of important initiatives, and which lasted more than three hours.
Between Playa Bastián and La Mareta
The marina would be located between Playa Bastián and the royal residence of La Mareta. But there is no concrete project at the moment. The point is to ask the Island Council to include that plot, owned by the municipality, as an area for future development as a marina in the Adaptation of the Island Territorial Planning Plan (PIOT).
The haste of the Teguiseños is no coincidence. It turns out that in a few years, according to the estimates of the Government group, the General Directorate of Coasts will not give authorizations for the construction of marinas in areas that are not already clearly and previously delimited. In this sense, the City Council wants to ensure that in the future, when a private developer is interested in taking over the work, there is land for that use.
The municipal demarcation in La Graciosa
The Corporation also approved a request addressed to the State Heritage for the definition of the municipal demarcation on the island of La Graciosa. It must be taken into account that the territory of the Eighth Island does not belong entirely to the City Council of Teguise, with a large part of the land being the responsibility of the State Heritage. And so, leaving the population center of the islet, Caleta de Sebo, the land becomes the responsibility of the State.
In recent years, the growth of the population has caused part of the Nation's land to be invaded by buildings of the residents of La Graciosa. According to the City Council itself, "it is aware of the patrimonial problem posed by the intrusions of private buildings and general use of Caleta de Sebo on land owned by the State in accordance with the demarcation of 1965".
In search of a solution
Teguise has been looking for a solution to the problem for some time, and for this it has held a series of meetings with National Parks. In these, the possibility of exchanging the invaded land in favor of the City Council for other land of municipal ownership has been raised, so that the municipality can later proceed to regularize the intrusive constructions. However, according to sources from the Consistory, "this option is not viable since the City Council cannot accredit the ownership of the unused land of its property".
In this sense, what the Corporation of the north of the Island proposes is the transfer of ownership of the land owned by the State located within the urban area defined by the Natural Park Plan of the island of La Graciosa in favor of the City Council, the municipality committing to carry out a promenade in the form of a pedestrian perimeter charged to the Teguise budget within a maximum period of one year.
This perimeter, already contemplated in the State Plan, will have the function of preventing urban intrusions from occurring again in the territory of the State Heritage from now on.
Adhesion to the "Cities for the Climate" agreement
Given the evident problems that have arisen in Lanzarote in the face of the already undeniable and evident climate change, Teguise did not want to be less and has adhered to the "Cities for the Climate" agreement, promoted by the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP).
It is a series of Spanish urban centers that jointly commit to sustainability and the fight against climate change. A total of 80 cities are already part of what is known as the Network of Spanish Cities for the Climate of the FEMP. A very topical issue for a municipality, which more than others has resented one of the most surprising consequences of climate change on the Island of Volcanoes: the torrential rains that fell last winter and even rendered a series of roads that run through the municipality unusable.
Modification of the Ordinary Municipal Budget
One of the most thorny issues that have been dealt with in the session is related, as has been usual in these ordinary plenary sessions at the beginning of a new political year, to the modification of the municipal budget and the recognition of the debts that the Corporation has contracted in the past.
In the past year, some items of the City Council's budget went beyond what was planned. As a result, it was necessary to resort to a loan to cover unforeseen expenses. The point now is to modify the Municipal Budget corresponding to 2005 for the recognition of the credits previously contracted for that cause, and which translate into an amount of 150,000 euros.
On the other hand, the extension of the budget item for contribution to the Island Plan of Works and Services was given the green light through the extraordinary credit supplement from the positive Treasury Remainder of the settlement of accounts for the year 2004.