Nueva Canarias-Bloque Canarista (NC-BC) has rejected in a "categorical way" the pretension of the government group of the Popular Party (PP) and Coalición Canaria (CC) to "give away" to the businessmen the public land of Arrecife and that they are the ones who manage the protected housing.
According to the information known, the mayor of Arrecife proposes to cede to the private initiative part of the land of the 200 protected houses of the speculative market that are still to be built in Maneje, because according to him, "the Government of the Canary Islands will not meet the deadlines". A measure that aims to copy Ayuso's model of urban speculation.
For Sheila Guillén, spokesperson for NC-BC in Arrecife, "what the government group proposes is nonsense and reflects that they are not aware of the damaging results that this type of speculative measures have given".
"Giving away public land to companies is taking away from the people of Arrecife their most precious asset, which is the territory. A gift that further increases the power of businessmen who are already the owners of practically all the building land in the capital and the island", says Guillén, who assures that this measure "goes against the interests of the working class who are looking for affordable housing protected from the free market".
For the Canarian nationalists, "the affordable housing model that Arrecife needs cannot be managed, once again, by businessmen. It must be the public administration, City Council, Cabildo, Government of the Canary Islands and Government of Spain, who ensure the construction of a park of housing protected from the free market that does not generate further price increases".
"Public administrations have sufficient capacity to build public housing and ensure reasonable prices based on the income of each municipality or island. We cannot open the door to a model designed for cities or communities with per capita incomes infinitely higher than those we have here", argues Sheila Guillén.
Alternative model
From NC-BC they are committed to a 100% public and social model that guarantees access to housing with affordable prices. In addition, they defend the protection of public land and that the management of housing falls on public administrations either directly or through non-profit organizations.
Similarly, they demand a comprehensive urban policy where the new urban areas of Arrecife are provided with all the necessary resources: public health and education services, parks, gardens, public transport...
"An urban policy is not simply about building blocks of flats, but about building a city that generates well-being for its residents. A city to live in and not to speculate with", says Sheila Guillén.
