"It is true that Greenpeace colleagues in the United Kingdom have commissioned a work from Jason deCaires, for a campaign on plastic pollution, but in no case do they know what his workplace is or have anything to do with this matter." That is what the environmental association has told La Voz de Lanzarote, after the artist himself declared to the newspaper La Provincia that he was making sculptures for Greenpeace in the premises that the Cabildo of Lanzarote continues to pay for in the Marina Rubicón marina.
The premises were rented by the Tourist Centers to serve as a workshop during the elaboration of the sculptures of the underwater museum, which was inaugurated more than two months ago. However, as La Voz published two weeks ago, deCaires has continued to use these premises for his private activity. And at least part of that activity, according to the artist, would consist of the elaboration of four human sculptures and seven albatrosses for the environmental association. "Greenpeace has absolutely nothing to do with this matter, but rather it is something that concerns the Cabildo and the artist himself," said the NGO's press office in Spain, referring to the fact that this work may be being carried out in premises paid for with public money.
In addition to this, the port is immersed in the criminal case of the Yate case and was also pointed out by Greenpeace itself as one of the black spots on the Spanish coast, in its report "Destruction at all costs" of 2002, when the works were still being carried out. In that report, he pointed out that the project "was surrounded by illegalities from its beginning" and referred to it as "the most striking example of the dark future that awaits the coastline as long as it is not understood that its conservation is the best guarantee for the survival of all the activities that take place around the coast". However, the association has not wanted to comment now on the realization of an environmental awareness work in this port, since they insist that they "have no knowledge" that the work they commissioned from DeCaires is being carried out in these premises of Marina Rubicón, despite what was declared by the artist himself.
"He has simply been commissioned a work"
"He has simply been commissioned a work based on other works he had already done," says the press office in Spain, which says it was not aware until now of this commission, which was made directly from Greenpeace in the United Kingdom. Thus, they have not specified the conditions of this commission, its possible remuneration or who bears the costs of the materials or the transfer of the sculptures, which at least in part have already been transferred from Marina Rubicón to London.
"This artist has collaborated with Greenpeace in the United Kingdom, as many others do, but logically we have no knowledge of his place of work," insisted the association in Spain, which points out that they cannot know the circumstances of all the people who collaborate or work for the NGO.
Meanwhile, the Cabildo continues without clarifying why they continue paying for these premises or whether DeCaires can make private use of them. At first, after the news broke two weeks ago, the Minister of Tourism pointed out that the artist was still working on the underwater museum because it was not yet completely finished and sculptures were missing. However, Jason deCaires later admitted that the work he was still working on was for the Greenpeace commission. In relation to the museum, he stated that what he was doing was obtaining photographic and audiovisual resources for a documentary, but not new sculptures.
The issue will be on the table during the Plenary session to be held this Thursday by the Cabildo of Lanzarote, where both the president, Pedro San Ginés, and the Minister of Tourism, Echedey Eugenio, will have to appear at the request of two opposition groups. In the case of Podemos, which demands that the contract with Marina Rubicón for the rental of the premises be rescinded, it will ask Eugenio for explanations about this document. For its part, Somos Lanzarote wants San Ginés to answer for having "linked" the image of the Tourist Centers to this port. "It is an outrage that an installation that constitutes one of the epicenters of wild urbanism and alleged corrupt plots is being benefited from the public," denounces the party.
Both formations recall that in the framework of the trial of the Yate case, held last week, the former mayor of Yaiza, José Francisco Reyes, confessed to having received bribes in exchange for granting an illegal license to that port. And also the former municipal secretary, Vicente Bartolomé Fuentes, acknowledged that he was aware of its illegality when he reported in favor of granting the permit. For its part, the Prosecutor's Office asked in this trial that the license be annulled when the sentence is handed down.
