The Sports Councilor of the Cabildo de Lanzarote, Alfredo Mendoza, has stated that he hopes to "regain the trust" of the organizers of the Rally Isla de Los Volcanes, after the suspension just 24 hours before the start of the event.
“What we need to do now is determine responsibilities and see where the institution has failed, to avoid a similar situation,” he said on Radio Lanzarote – Onda Cero, and added that it is necessary to find “meeting points” between the Cabildo and the organization.
In addition, the councilor highlighted the attitude of the organizers on Thursday. “They have understood from minute one that the institution has put all the means and resources to try to solve a situation that is not to anyone's liking, but the truth is what we all know, and obviously no one, none of us, is going to put the Cabildo in a situation of illegality,” he said.
“We have experienced a situation that is not desirable for anyone who has to make decisions in the governments they hold,” said the councilor, who emphasized the need to find a way to hold a rally “coexisting with environmental protection.”
“There is a good starting point, the federations have understood the situation and have made themselves available to the Cabildo to collaborate and organize rallies of this magnitude. I think the fans deserve it,” adds Mendoza.
Alfredo Mendoza has confirmed what the Minister of the Environment, Elena Solís, stated in relation to the time in which the organization requested the permits, but has criticized “the lack of communication”. “Even with two weeks in advance, we are not talking about a month, but with weeks we could have suspended the event and the economic impact would not have been so great,” he added.
The president will make “the appropriate decisions”
In relation to the request from some parties for the president to dismiss Elena Solís as Minister of the Environment, Mendoza assures that “it is not up to him” to answer that question.
“It is about determining responsibilities, identifying where the error is, and when it is known, the appropriate decisions will be made by the president of the Island Council of Lanzarote,” explains the councilor.
In addition, Mendoza points out that “now is not the time to talk about dismissals”, nor about “who has to leave to compensate for damage”. “From the Island Sports Service we have made a commitment to make the Rally a reality, but we have not succeeded. It is not only important the economic issue, but also the material one. But obviously we are not going to clash with the legality due to those negative environmental reports and we have had to make the worst of the decisions”.
Regarding his relationship with Elena Solís, he assures that it has always been “good”. “There has been an absolute predisposition because I was worried that the permits would arrive, although it is true that I would have liked a greater speed in the issuance of reports”, Mendoza asserts.
Weeks of “intense work” ahead of the Ironman
Another of the important events on the Island's sports calendar is the Ironman, which is held annually and brings together hundreds of international athletes. In this regard, Mendoza assures that they expect weeks of “intense work” for its celebration, because he assures that they may see themselves “in a situation very similar to the rally”.
“We hope that all this has served to trigger the alarms and get to work so that sporting events can be held,” says Mendoza, who argues that they are important “not only for the economic side but also for the promotion of values and the external promotion of the Island”.
“We have always known how to coexist, and it is important to know that to date we have been able to carry it out and now we must sit down to see how we can carry out or not this type of event,” says the councilor.
