The Local Committee of Nueva Canarias of Teguise wants to express its "support for the residents" of Caleta de Famara who have rejected the mobility plan imposed by the conservative government group of CC, PP and Vox, considering that it goes "against the safety and free movement of pedestrians, impacts the natural landscape and turns the town into a large open-air parking lot" with the incorporation of 200 parking spaces.
The Canaristas point out that the mobility plan for Caleta is an example of "urban planning of occurrence" and follows planning practices "obsolete and opposed to those being carried out in other locations and recommended by European, Spanish and Canarian regulations on urban planning, mobility and sustainable development goals".
For Belén Machín, president of NC in the municipality of Teguise, "the government group has not only developed the mobility plan behind the backs of the residents of Caleta; but has imposed it against their well-being and prioritizing the comfort of the tourist to the detriment of the landscape and coastal idiosyncrasy of the town. They prioritize 200 battery parking spaces and forget about sidewalks, pedestrian avenues and spaces for socialization and community. The town planned for the rental car and not for the resident".
Similarly, the Canarista points out that this type of mobility plans cause economic and investment opportunities to be lost for the municipality, since it cannot access regional and European subsidies and financing for not meeting minimum sustainability criteria. "Currently, all lines of subsidies and aid are linked to sustainable planning that takes into account pedestrianization and accessibility; the expansion of sidewalks; school mobility; bike lanes; and promotion of sustainable transport", says Machín, who recalls that "the pedestrian has to be the main user of public space and not cars".
According to NC, the government group's intention is to "take the problem of mobility and parking from Famara beach to the town itself without addressing the underlying issue, the tourist load that the town supports and the natural space that is being deteriorated".
With everything, NC proposes the paralysis of the current mobility plan and a return to the participatory process where residents, groups and the city council agree on a planning according to the current needs of the resident and protects the natural and idiosyncratic beauty of La Caleta, in addition to addressing once and for all the reality of tourist overcrowding that leads to various problems such as access to housing, mobility, neighborhood welfare and the landscape.
"La Caleta must maintain its economic development without the need to become a common massified tourist space where the values that make it unique, such as coastal and fishing beauty, neighborhood coexistence and tranquility, are distorted", says Belén Machín.
In the following link you can read the arguments of the residents and support the petition.