The Tourism Councilor of the Cabildo, Echedey Eugenio, has described this Wednesday as a "whim" the agreement adopted on July 28 in the Plenary of the Cabildo, which urges the Tourist Centers to terminate the lease of a premises in the Marina Rubicón marina, declared illegal by the Justice.
The motion was presented by Podemos, which had brought a similar initiative to the Plenary on two previous occasions. But two weeks ago he managed to prosper, achieving the support not only of Ciudadanos and Somos Lanzarote, but also of the Socialist Party, which distanced itself from its government partner. And it is that after learning that same week that the Yate case ruling was already final, the PSOE decided to support Podemos' request and urge the Centers to terminate that contract.
However, as he announced in the Plenary, Echedey Eugenio has made it clear this Wednesday that he does not feel bound by that agreement. "The plenary adopts an agreement that interferes in the powers of another contracting body," he said, confirming that he has already requested a report from the EPEL services. In addition, he has compared this case with the closure of the maritime avenue of Arrecife. "I say it seriously, I have asked my colleagues to pass me the legal report of the City Council in case it can be useful to me. It is exactly the same case. A plenary agreement that imposes something on someone who has no powers," he said, referring to the motion that urged the mayor to reopen the avenue to traffic, and which was supported by the CC councilors.
"No one has bribed me or the Centers"
According to the councilor, the request that the Centers stop renting a premises in an illegal marina "is legally the same" as what happens on the avenue. "No one has bribed me or the Tourist Centers to rent this space," he said, responding to criticism of what that contract entails, which links the image of the CACT to the corruption that surrounded the construction of this port. And it is that, as the Yate case ruling considers proven, the owners of Marina Rubicón bribed the former mayor of Yaiza, José Francisco Reyes, to obtain that illegal license.
"We have rented a premises in a space that no one has told me cannot be open, nor any ruling, I think," insisted the councilor, who questioned that "things are mixed" and "attempts are made to talk about bribes, about corruption." Thus, he has defended both the rental of the premises, used as the office of the Atlantic Museum, and the construction of that underwater museum itself. A project that was born surrounded by controversy for being installed in front of this marina, from where the boats leave to make the visit.
Precisely to that Eugenio has now appealed to defend the need for the Centers to rent a premises right in those facilities. "We are paying 500 euros for a premises in the marina from where the boats leave to go to the Atlantic Museum," he said, even inviting them to present him with "an offer" of a premises at that price "in a port from where the boats with the divers leave."
Regarding the usefulness of the premises, Podemos has also been questioning its need, given that tickets to access the museum are not sold directly to users, but through diving clubs. And most of the clubs are located in Puerto del Carmen, so they have to travel to Marina Rubicón to pick up the bracelets. However, Eugenio has defended that "the premises are necessary", pointing out not only that "the bracelets are sold" there, but also that from there "the departure of the boats" to the museum is controlled.
"Surely in Arrecife there is a premises for 300 euros, but it makes no sense"
Regarding the amount of the premises, it should be remembered that the rent is 500 euros, although to that figure must be added other payments stipulated in the contract. Among other things, the Centers have to pay the IBI corresponding to that premises, as well as a "maintenance" fee to the property, of 2.4 euros per square meter. And although Eugenio stated in the Plenary that the premises has 20 square meters, the contract states that it measures 120, so the Centers would pay another 288 euros for that maintenance fee, in addition to other "expenses and payments to third parties", such as "fees or prices of public services that are not charged individually".
"Surely in Arrecife there is a premises for 300 euros, but it makes no sense to sell the bracelets of the Atlantic Museum in Arrecife," said the councilor, after pointing out that in the area where it is located there are no premises for that price. "The cheapest thing we have found is in the shopping center that is at the entrance and is at 3,200 euros," he said, adding that "probably Puerto del Carmen we are at the same rental prices."
For that reason, he has stated that "the whim of some members of the Plenary of the Island Council can cost the Tourist Centers around 30,000 euros more per year" if another premises is sought. In any case, in principle it is something that the councilor has no intention of doing. "When the report we have requested comes, we will see who has the competence and how the contracts have to be made," he said.
Regarding the location that was chosen for the museum, when areas such as Puerto del Carmen are the ones that attract most of the divers who practice this sport on the island, the councilor has insisted that it was "the best area" and "the one recommended by the tides." "In a place that was a sandy area and where there was no life, it begins to have it," he defended.
The second contract was signed after the first Yate ruling
The contract with Marina Rubicón was signed two years ago, to rent two premises that served as a workshop for Jason deCaires while he was making the figures of the underwater museum. Months after the museum was already inaugurated, the Centers continued to pay for those premises, despite the complaints that Podemos had been making. Finally, last April they terminated the contract, but on the same day they signed another one, to continue renting one of the two premises, which is now used as an information office for the museum.
That second contract was signed on April 28, a week after the first instance ruling of the Yate case was known, which declared the port illegal and considered it proven that it received its license in exchange for a bribe. That ruling was declared final last July, which is when Podemos managed to get its motion approved to urge the Tourist Centers to terminate that second contract.
"It remains to be seen if that request is met, from my point of view totally out of place," warned in that Plenary the president of the Cabildo, Pedro San Ginés, who stated that the approved motion, and which was also supported by his government partner, "is nothing more than a political declaration of intent."
