Manuel Villoria, professor of Political Science and co-founder in Spain of the Board of Directors of Transparency International, has carried out a study on corruption in Lanzarote together with Professor Fernando Jiménez. One of the features that "most surprised him" is that he found a population "that has been very concerned about the environment, that has managed to have an island that meets all the conditions to be a paradise, but at the same time that collective consciousness has been surpassed and has been able to fall into the hands of an entire sector of construction and urban development, which has been able to overcome a truly wonderful will of the citizens." "This is a key element," he said in an interview on Radio Lanzarote-Onda Cero.
Villoria participated in the report "The island of the accused", by Equipo de Investigación de La Sexta, where he explained the "peculiar" case of Lanzarote and his study of "corruption in paradise". On Radio Lanzarote-Onda Cero, he pointed out that another specific feature of the island that his colleague Fernando Jiménez highlights is the "fact that corruption is done at such gross levels of breaking the Law, which is truly surprising".
He also pointed out that the number of defendants in Lanzarote is "extraordinary", with a large number of "parties and small parties that are emerging" and with a "generalized defection, which in the case of Arrecife is truly surprising". For Villoria, the difference between corruption in Lanzarote and other areas of Spain is that the island, in addition to being a Biosphere Reserve, has had "extensive support from the population in favor of the environment" but, despite this, "gross acts of corruption and environmental damage have been carried out, surprisingly".
In this sense, Villoria recalled that Lanzarote is the first case "of an island urban plan, of an attempt to have a long-term vision, with a very serious analysis" but, at the same time, there are also "from the first moment" some "local politicians such as Dimas Martín, who manages to generate 13,000 tourism jobs in Yaiza and Teguise, skipping everything".
"A person with extraordinary interests on the island"
Villoria believes that Lanzarote does not have a "cultural problem" that leads to this corruption, but that the island itself "generates enormous interest in building and generating tourist places, without considering the enormous difficulties in sustaining a population like the one intended on such a small island." "I think it is essentially a matter of economic incentives, a lot of money and many interests," he said.
In this sense, he has spoken "above all" of "someone" that "the whole island knows" and who has "extraordinary interests" in Lanzarote, where he has "extraordinary political, legal and judicial connections and is capable of promoting and promoting growth that is truly harmful to the island", according to his perception.
This professor of Political Science and author of a study on corruption on the island believes that there are also differences between the interior and the coastal area of Lanzarote. "In the most touristy places there are more incentives. It is curious that in those municipalities where there are more cases of corruption and more tourism, the corrupt win the elections better, distribute and expand the benefits in such a way that it seems to generate a benefit to the island, but it is not like that," he insisted.
Villoria has warned that when "corruption begins to expand" a "destructive" phenomenon occurs, since citizens distrust institutions and, as a consequence, they come to distrust "their own fellow citizens", because they believe that they may be "playing the same game". "In the end, compliance with the Law is discouraged," he indicated, since if the politician does not comply, the citizen ends up wondering why he has to comply and why he cannot steal "if everyone here steals".
"In the end, a kind of legal chaos occurs. Those who want to invest in the long term, withdraw and the pirates will arrive who try short-term investments, of very low quality and that will turn the island into an environmentally destroyed space, without any future, after a while," he warned.
Despite this panorama, Villoria believes that there is a solution and trusts that the reforms against corruption will introduce "mechanisms" to avoid this practice. "We are increasingly critical and citizens are beginning to react, sometimes by voting for minority or often populist parties, which is the bad way out, other times with abstention or with permanent complaint, the demand," he said.
However, he also recalled that, according to surveys, Spaniards "are extraordinarily angry", because Spain is the country in Europe where corruption is most perceived and also where companies believe that there are "more agreements to distribute public contracts". "People are outraged and in some way the parties will have to start reacting," Villoria trusted.
However, he is aware that this reaction will be "very slow", because "the moment the parties put all the meat on the grill", a large part of "the colleagues who sit next to them should go to jail". "Also a part of the economic elite should go to jail. With more transparency in the financing of parties, and more control, it will be more difficult for the suitcases to reach certain headquarters and influence decision-making," insisted this professor.
Also aware of the blisters that the La Sexta report has raised on the island, Villoria has stated that the bad guys "do not like to be pointed out", but that is what "responsible media and citizens who try to improve the country" are for. Precisely for this reason, Villoria said goodbye with an "encouragement" from his interview on Radio Lanzarote-Onda Cero.
