Noda proposes regulatory bases for sponsorships and grants from the Society for External Promotion

The counselor of the Mixed Group in the Island Council of Lanzarote, Óscar Noda, has presented a motion in which he proposes that “the Council, as the majority shareholder of the Lanzarote External Promotion Company SA., urge said public company to develop competitive bidding rules for sponsorships and subsidies for sporting, cultural, and tourist events of insular and regional interest”. 

According to Noda, “the proposal is born with the objective of facilitating the development of events that promote culture, sport, and tourism in Lanzarote by establishing a framework of financial support that allows entities to organize activities of interest to the island and specifies, with objective and regulated criteria, the clear definition of the types of events that may be subsidized (cultural, sporting, tourist), thus achieving a more than necessary transparency in the External Promotion Company which, in recent times, has positioned itself as the piggy bank where anything goes”.

Noda recalls that “this institution, which had always been immaculate, is being involved in judicial investigations, due to the arbitrariness with which sponsorships and subsidies are granted, for which reason it is necessary to establish, as objective criteria, the necessary evaluation of issues such as the expected impact, social profitability, and project viability, but, all of this, supported by a transparent selection process, with the participation of an evaluation committee made up of professionals from the area”. 

Óscar Noda concludes that “the rules must include the simplified application procedure and the creation of an online platform where interested entities can submit their proposals, the publication of clear and specific deadlines for submitting applications, detailed information on the required documentation and the evaluation process, as well as establishing limits on the maximum subsidy and conditions for the use of funds to ensure adequate management and avoid duplication, establish monitoring of financed events by evaluating their impact and effectiveness, without forgetting the preparation of an annual report that collects the results and allows for pertinent improvements in future calls”.

Finally, Noda continues, “the obligation must be established for those sponsored and subsidized to prepare, through a technical report or audit, the impact of their events on the island of Lanzarote." 

The Centers for Art, Culture and Tourism have been successful in their strategy of developing guidelines for the financing of events of this nature and are avoiding disparity of criteria, arbitrariness in aid and sponsorships, and are contributing to fair competitive bidding and publicity. 

This motion seeks not only to encourage the holding of events in Lanzarote but also to ensure that public resources "are used responsibly, effectively, and transparently," concludes Óscar Noda.