The parking time for vehicles in Órzola will have a limit. This is what the Government group of Haría approved in the last plenary session of the City Council. The decision affects 6 streets in this town and another two in the town of Haría and, if not complied with, will imply "fines".
As explained by the first deputy mayor of Haría on Radio Lanzarote-Onda Cero, the "public" parking areas where residents parked, "on the street", "are often used by people who go to La Graciosa, leave the car" and stay "all weekend" on the eighth island, while "residents have nowhere to park their car". José Pérez Dorta has stated that this "also harms the bars themselves, because people who go to eat also had nowhere to park", so the City Council decided that "it had to be regulated".
"What we have done is that there can be parking for a limited time, residents will be given a special resident permit so that they can have it for as long as necessary", explained Dorta, who, despite defending this restriction, recognizes that in that northern town "there is a significant problem of lack of parking". In fact, he recalled that "practically all the free plots have been dedicated to parking".
"Logically, if people do not comply, they will be fined"
In the case of Haría, the restriction affects two of the "busiest" streets in the town and that are near the town square. "We hope that it will not be necessary to reach the fine, that there is a clear awareness that these things are logical", added Dorta, who indicated however that "logically, if people are disrespectful and do not comply with what is indicated, they will be fined".
As for Órzola, the demand for public parking spaces that accommodate all passengers leaving from there to La Graciosa is a demand that comes from years ago. In July 2015, the City Council held a meeting with the maritime lines and, after the meeting, stated that they had "laid the foundations" to create it. "We are going to try to enable a space as a public parking lot to decongest the center of the town of vehicles", said the mayor, Marciano Acuña, at the time. However, he also added: "Until that moment arrives, we have to maintain basic rules of coexistence in which the economic activity of the area does not condition the daily life of the residents".
The creation of that parking lot received months later the support of the Government of the Canary Islands, which had committed to "collaborate" in its construction through the entity Puertos Canarios. The council then recognized the lack of space for all the vehicles that arrive in the area and pointed out, in addition, that the plots that the shipping companies have been enabling "lack regulation and are still insufficient".
