"Let there be no doubt in the population that we are going to act with all the force we can, applying the sanctions in the maximum degrees contemplated by law." This is how forceful the Councilor for Territorial Policy of the Cabildo, Carlos Espino, was today, after learning of the infraction committed by a company in Playa Blanca, specifically a hotel under construction, which has imported 51 palm trees to the island inside a furniture container, despite the prohibition that currently governs, to prevent the threat of the red palm weevil from spreading, which has already seriously affected the palm trees of other islands in the archipelago.
This news coincided with a meeting that Carlos Espino himself held this morning at the Haría City Council with the palmito artisans, especially affected by the current security measures that have had to be imposed, such as the prohibition of felling palm trees.
"We are next on the list," said Espino. And after the palm groves of Fuerteventura and Gran Canaria have been heavily affected by the red palm weevil, the councilor has insisted on taking extreme precautions to avoid unnecessary risks. However, these measures affect a group that has been dedicated to crafts for more than 50 years and whose raw material is the palm tree.
"Right now we have material for a couple of months, but after that I don't know what we are going to do," explained Esther Romero, an artisan from Haría. "We are going to stand still, with our arms crossed." For this reason, the artisans have proposed to the Cabildo in this meeting the possibility of enabling a palm grove area so that a restricted and controlled felling can be carried out, so that they can be supplied with raw material for their work.
After several considerations in which he insisted on the risk run by the Lanzarote palm trees, Carlos Espino stated: "We will take into account all the suggestions, however we cannot assure the artisans that what they ask for will be done in Haría or that it will be done immediately"
Espino also pointed out the preventive and precautionary nature of these measures, which are not definitive so far, at least until all the information regarding the red palm weevil is collected. "We have to prevent the same thing from happening as in Fuerteventura, where 80 palm trees had to be felled in one of the areas where the plague has acted most strongly," explained the councilor.
The meeting concluded with an agreement to meet again in fifteen days. "One of the most feasible solutions is to obtain subsidies for these artisans, so that they are not economically harmed by these measures," said the mayor of Haría.
Information campaign
The Cabildo of Lanzarote has launched a campaign so that all Lanzarote residents assume the imposed measures. From tomorrow, four thousand explanatory leaflets will be distributed, especially in the areas with the most palm groves. "We have no choice but to act like this, to avoid risks and events like this morning, when several containers with felled palm trees were seized in Playa Blanca," explained Carlos Espino.
The prohibition of felling palm trees is because any cut that is made to these plants can weaken them, so that it would be easier for the red palm weevil to attack them. In addition, the sap acts as a claim for the insect.
