The mayor of Teguise, Oswaldo Betancort, has expressed his "outrage" at seeing "how Lanzarote and La Graciosa have lost millions of euros in investment due to the terrible management and coordination between the administrations in charge of properly managing the natural resources that attract many audiovisual producers from the national and international film industry to film on the island."
Betancort made these statements after revealing last week that the filming of the series 'Welcome to Eden', Netflix's new project, was going to abandon Lanzarote due to "lack of permits" from Coasts to film in Caletón Blanco.
“It is a shame that it is the Cabildo of Lanzarote itself, the Government of the Canary Islands or the Demarcation of Coasts who are scaring away astronomical investments on the island, which is inevitably causing a lot of impotence to the hotel and hospitality sector, and to the entire business fabric as a whole, since there are hundreds of people staying in Lanzarote's hotel plant and working and consuming in different municipalities with a brutal deployment of resources, which generates wealth that at this time, we cannot afford to lose,” declared Oswaldo Betancort.
“How is it possible that no one is moving to remedy this situation that only harms the island of Lanzarote and La Graciosa? It is regrettable that Fuerteventura, having similar figures for the protection of its nature, has an environmental body that effectively and with foresight resolves the requests of audiovisual producers,” asks Betancort, clarifying that “it is not about breaking the law or violating protected spaces, but about responding in a timely manner and looking for alternatives in the event that the permit is denied, but for that there must be political will and leadership.”
“We have it within our reach to diversify the economy in Lanzarote, and manage our territory and our resources for the benefit of the population, but we have a lot to lose if we do not take effective policies from our administrations now, and continue to depend on Madrid granting a permit to the producers who will then broadcast their series or movies on Netflix or Apple TV, such as those that are currently filming in the municipality of Teguise and in the rest of the island,” he added.
In this sense, in addition to requesting the Island Council to “create its own environmental body so as not to have to delegate to other administrations that will not be as agile when it comes to serving an industry that generates investment and promotion worldwide,” Oswaldo Betancort has also pledged to “demand that the regional government recover its powers in matters of Coasts and that it speed up the revision of the Land Law and the Protected Natural Spaces of the Canary Islands, and establish a special regulation for the realization of audiovisual activities in the islands.”
Betancort, who a few days ago held a meeting with the producers of Brutal Media, who are still filming the series 'Welcome to Eden' on the island that will be broadcast on Netflix, transmitted an initial message of outrage through his social networks, which he says "has had a great impact among the Lanzarote society, and even more among the businessmen and freelancers who, in the absence of tourists, welcome with open arms any movement that produces and generates consumption and employment in Lanzarote.” “We cannot continue to allow the terrible coordination between administrations to continue harming the same people, in this case, Lanzarote and La Graciosa and their battered economy”, concludes the mayor of Teguise.
