PHOTOS: Sergio Betancort.
"Today is a great day for the Canary Islands. A great day for Lanzarote. Today is a historic day!". That has been one of the cries launched during the demonstration that has been experienced this Saturday afternoon in Lanzarote, and that has exceeded all expectations.
Between 20,000 and 25,000 people, according to initial calculations by the Local Police, have taken to the streets, flooding the Maritime Avenue of Arrecife with people, music and demands. In addition, along the route, more people waiting on the avenue have joined the march, raising the number of participants to between 25,000 and 30,000, according to the Police.
Long before 7:00 p.m., when the march was scheduled, Calle Real was already a hive of people, carrying banners, t-shirts and stickers. "No, no, no to oil", "Our opinion matters: No to oil companies", "We don't want them to stain our future", "Soria traitor" or "There is no better oil than tourism" were some of the messages that could be read, and that have accompanied the entire journey to the fairgrounds.
The crowd of people at the starting point was such that, almost an hour after the march began, there were still people on Calle Real waiting to start walking. A wait, yes, to the rhythm of batucadas and vindictive messages, but with a marked festive character. The one that has accompanied the entire demonstration.
By the time all those who had gathered at the old Cabildo had joined the route along the maritime avenue, around 7:55 p.m., the head of the demonstration was already reaching El Reducto, in a real tide of people that packed the entire maritime avenue of Arrecife, turning this protest into the largest in the entire history of Lanzarote.
A party
Batucadas, murgas, children, young people, adults and even babies, a donkey pulling a cart full of supposed Repsol barrels, characters dressed as "tycoons" from Repsol and Minister José Manuel Soria, stilt walkers, an oil platform? Everything has served on this day in which Lanzarote has given an overwhelming No to oil. And it has done so with a festive and hopeful air.
"Today is a day to be very happy", Pedro Hernández shouted from a microphone, with which he was sending messages throughout the march, while recalling the concentrations that were taking place simultaneously on all the islands, including La Graciosa, and also in Madrid and Barcelona.
"Today is a great day of celebration. We will stop Repsol's explorations!", Hernández shouted, drawing applause from everyone around him. The image evoked the spirit of that 27-S of 2002, in which Lanzarote also took to the streets, in defense of the territory. That event was a historic day, bringing together about 10,000 people. However, this Saturday's has surpassed it by far, concentrating more than double the people.
"We don't want them to put us in the world of violence, in the world of lack of rights, in the world of oil spills." "That is our sea, we cannot allow them to poison it. Minister Soria wants to poison us", Pedro Hernández continued to launch, who, when passing by the Government Delegation, has focused his speech on the Popular Party, and especially on its representatives in Lanzarote.
"These gentlemen of the PP must be told to learn from their colleagues in Valencia", he repeated, naming several public officials of the party on the island. "They cannot hide. They have to show their faces. Let them go out into the street tonight and say that they are going to respect the will of these citizens!".
Outbreak at the fairgrounds
The festive atmosphere that has accompanied the entire demonstration has exploded upon arrival at the fairgrounds, which has become too small to house so many people, causing many protesters to have to follow the end of the march from outside.
Inside, the manifesto of Lanzarote against the oil explorations authorized by the Council of Ministers has been read, and it has also been possible to see and hear the one that was being read in Fuerteventura at that same time. And it is that a live connection has been established between the demonstrations of both islands, which this Saturday have been more united than ever to shout "NO to oil".
RELATED NEWS
[The Government Delegation maintains that 9,000 people have participated in the demonstration against oil in Lanzarote->67675]
[The national press echoes the protests against oil in the Canary Islands, although El Mundo speaks of "hundreds" of protesters->67674]
