Loli Corujo sets the goal of "reorienting our tourism model" as one of her priorities for the next term in the Cabildo. "The cornerstone on which this redefinition of our model will pivot must be the Island Planning Plan, but any Island Plan is not enough for us: we need a new generation Plan," she said.
Loli Corujo appeared before the media to present the Socialist Party's electoral programs for the Cabildo and the Regional Parliament for Lanzarote. The event took place at the PSOE headquarters in Lanzarote.
"Strictly respecting the territorial structure, that is, without classifying a single square meter of land," the new Island Plan should focus "on establishing the guidelines for 21st-century tourism" in Lanzarote, said Loli Corujo.
The project proposes: "It is not just about containing growth, it is about increasing our degree of development, and for this, we need to meet three objectives: improve our level of income per visitor, better redistribute the wealth generated by our economic engine, and, thirdly, guarantee the conservation of our protected natural spaces, our landscape, our beaches, and our sea."
"The Cabildo is going to assume its part in the renovation and modernization," said Loli Corujo, and "our party's proposal for all of the Canary Islands is to impose an eco-tax, which is nothing more, nor less, than a quota of tourist co-responsibility," stressed the candidate to repeat as president of the Cabildo.
"Impose a quota of tourist co-responsibility"
Regarding the detractors of this measure, she pointed out that "in 13 years, the price of the bed has risen more than 50 euros per night, and now it turns out that charging one, two, or three euros in the form of an eco-tax endangers tourism," and asked them, "Why does the eco-tax put tourism at risk and not business profits?"
"One in three people who visit us stays in a vacation home," Loli Corujo then stated. "This reality must be corrected in our new tourism planning, since it makes it unbearably difficult for our people to access decent housing at a reasonable price, so we are going to regulate vacation homes," she says.
The candidate put the socialist commitment for the next term in Lanzarote at 800 public homes. "The Canary Islands Housing Plan of the Government of Ángel Víctor Torres includes 400 homes for Lanzarote, but that plan has already been surpassed," said Loli Corujo, who added: "My party's commitment is to expand the Canary Islands Housing Plan, bringing it to a total figure of 8,000 homes throughout the Canary Islands, and Lanzarote will correspond to approximately 800, so we will double the current forecast in the next four years."
Regarding public transport, the candidate expressed: "My commitment is to directly manage the comprehensive sustainable transport network of Lanzarote from the Cabildo, so there will be no new concession and we will directly assume the management of the service."
In addition, she announced that there will be "very important" changes, since it is proposed to "integrate the management of transport in Arrecife with the island's transport to contribute to the capital having a better public transport service and, in addition, to avoid unnecessary transfers." In that sense, she announced "the creation of new lines that will leave from Argana towards the three tourist centers of the island."
"The creation of new lines that will leave from Argana towards the three tourist centers of the island"
"We cannot allow our workers to spend three hours a day traveling between their residence and their work," said the general secretary of the PSOE.
With respect to the services of the Social Rights area, "I also want to highlight a solemn and unwavering commitment: all the benefits that depend on the Cabildo in relation to dependent people and our elders will be managed directly by the Cabildo, so the concessions are over," Loli Corujo said.
The socialist candidate for the Cabildo elaborated on this proposal: "It's over for public centers to apply blackmail to families to go through the hoop of apparently voluntary fees if they want their loved ones to receive the attention they deserve." However, "we will maintain the best relations with all the associations of the third sector in the field of social rights, but with a completely different model," she makes clear.
The second part of her speech was dedicated to the PSOE's electoral program for the Parliament of the Canary Islands, which includes 199 measures and a commitment that revolve around the concept of sustainability. "For the Socialist Party, sustainability is based on three completely inseparable pillars: the environmental, the social, and the economic," stressed Loli Corujo.
"The immediate start-up" of the Radiotherapy bunker and the implementation of early childhood education from 0 to 3 years, universal and free"
In the health field, the main commitment focuses on "the immediate start-up" of the Radiotherapy bunker, the Hemodynamics Unit, and the Emerging Diseases Building. In educational matters, "we are going to continue with the implementation of early childhood education from 0 to 3 years, universal and free," she said.
In terms of water, she committed to ensuring that the next term "will be that of the renovation of the large water distribution networks to guarantee the supply in conditions to the entire population, but also that of the renovation of the distribution networks in all our centers, to put an end to the intolerable losses experienced by the network," she says.
The joint action of the Cabildo and the Government of the Canary Islands in the deployment of renewables will also be fundamental, said Loli Corujo. "The energy transition requires us to increase the production of clean energy at an accelerated pace, but the protection of our environment requires us to deploy carefully, responding to the general interest and not to that of the operators."
Regarding offshore wind power, she pointed out that, in the Canary Islands, the implementation of wind turbines at sea "will be carried out both in Gran Canaria, associating these large generation facilities with large-capacity storage systems, such as the one planned in Chira-Soria."
"Fight for the renewable energy generation facilities to be publicly owned"
"I commit to continue fighting for all the large renewable energy generation facilities located in Lanzarote to be publicly owned," she said and stressed: "The deployment of renewables cannot become an excuse for real estate scams at the expense of our landscape and our environment," concluded Loli Corujo, inviting the population to read both programs in detail, which she described as "ambitious and achievable."
