Podemos Canarias has requested in a press release the "immediate halt to the demolition" of the building located at Luis Morote street 2, in Arrecife, as they consider that "it possesses accredited heritage values and that its demolition responds to the inaction of the competent administrations".
The formation denounces that "administrative silence has opened the door to an irreversible loss for the urban memory of the capital of Lanzarote". Furthermore, it warns that "there is still time to avoid it and thus maintain part of the traditional Canarian essence in the city".
The building, representative of rural architecture adapted to the urban environment, preserves features of the popular and traditional character of Lanzarote's domestic buildings. It is located on a street that maintains three other examples of this refined construction practice — houses number 6, 9, and 12 — forming a unique ensemble in Arrecife. However, another house with similar values was already demolished on the same street and replaced by a modern building, "impoverishing the historical layout and architectural identity of the city".
Podemos Canarias denounces a "pattern in the municipal government that ends up favoring private interests over the common good. The sequence is repeated: the construction company requests a demolition license; the City Council does not respond; the company goes to court; and the judicial body recognizes the effects of administrative silence since no protection file has been initiated by either the City Council or the Cabildo". The result is that a property with notorious heritage values is left without effective legal protection.
“Heritage is not an obstacle to development, it is living memory and a collective right,” stated Nona Pérera, Heritage Secretary of Podemos Canarias. “We cannot allow administrative silence to become a way to evade the legal obligation to protect what belongs to everyone. The Law contemplates immediate precautionary measures. If they are not activated, it is because there is no political will.”
The formation points out the "joint responsibility of the Arrecife City Council, the Lanzarote Cabildo, and the Government of the Canary Islands for not using the instruments provided for in the regulations". It recalls that the conservation of heritage "constitutes a prevailing public interest, which takes precedence over private interests when there is accredited cultural value". Furthermore, it warns that "the loss of this property would mean further deterioration of the urban memory of the capital, whose tourist promotion contrasts with the real fragility of its historical legacy".
“We still have time to protect this property and protect ourselves as a society,” added Pérera. “It is enough to initiate the file and apply the precautionary suspension provided for by law. Defending heritage is not an ideological option, it is complying with the law and respecting our common history.”
