Canarian United Left (IUC) has denounced the "situation of extreme gravity" that Timanfaya National Park is experiencing after the closure of its administrative offices “until further notice” due to lack of staff, a circumstance that currently prevents telephone service, email management, the use of corporate applications, and in-person service to citizens.
For the formation, this fact "is not isolated nor anecdotal, but a new expression of the progressive deterioration of public services in the Canary Islands and of a management model that prioritizes economic activity over the general interest".
"While basic administrative functions remain paralyzed, the park's tourist services continue to operate normally, evidencing a worrying imbalance between economic exploitation and public management capacity," they criticize.
“We are facing a very clear image of the model that is consolidating in the Canary Islands, business works, but the public sector collapses,” Saúl Alberola, National Coordinator of IUC and La Laguna councilor, has pointed out. “It cannot be that in one of the most important natural areas of the State there is not enough staff to serve the public, process files or guarantee basic administrative management.”
“This is not an isolated situation, it is the result of years of abandonment and a weakened administration. The Government of the Canary Islands has spent the entire legislature demonstrating that it does not know how or does not want to manage public resources, leaving billions unexecuted while workers are lacking in essential services,” Alberola added.
From IUC they recall that this situation "occurs in a broader context of institutional deterioration, with staff deficits in multiple areas, low budget execution and lack of reinforcement of administrative capacities". “Then we hear the Government blame the State for all problems, but the reality is that they are not even capable of filling basic positions or guaranteeing the minimum functioning of their own services,” denounces the formation.
Furthermore, the organization emphasizes "the seriousness of this lack of human resources coexisting with the normality of the park's tourist activity, which points to a model in which resources are primarily oriented towards sustaining the business, while public management and long-term conservation are weakened".
“You cannot speak of sustainability while the public services that sustain that sustainability are emptied of content. The protection of the territory is not guaranteed with speeches, but with staff, planning, and sufficient resources,” states Alberola.
Given this situation, Izquierda Unida has already moved the case to the Congress of Deputies, through its Parliamentary Group, with the aim that the State Government, in coordination with the Autonomous Community, provides an urgent response and structurally addresses the lack of personnel in the National Parks Network.
IUC demands "the immediate replacement of administrative staff in Timanfaya, the preparation of a real diagnosis on the workforces in the protected natural areas of the Canary Islands and a reinforcement plan that guarantees a solid, sufficient, and general interest-oriented public management".
“The Canary Islands cannot afford a model in which the territory is squeezed while its public management is abandoned. We need less propaganda and more responsibility. Less excuses and more commitment to what belongs to everyone”, concludes Alberola.
