The Socialist Group of the Cabildo de Lanzarote will request the interpellation of Oswaldo Betancort after the Insular Committee of the PSOE of Lanzarote approved a resolution "in defense of the landscape against the indiscriminate implementation of photovoltaic energy," and demands immediate public explanations from both the Government of the Canary Islands and the Cabildo de Lanzarote for what it calls a "slip-up" with the so-called Renewable Acceleration Zone (ZAR). The PSOE emphasizes that the energy transition is necessary, but denounces that it is being attempted to be imposed "behind the island's back, without consensus, and putting rustic land and protected landscapes at risk."The Renewable Acceleration Zone (ZAR) proposal reserves 3,163 hectares in Lanzarote and La Graciosa—mostly Arrecife—for wind farms and photovoltaic plants. Following the social protest, the Cabildo speaks of "errors," while the Government of the Canary Islands says that everything is correct and agreed upon. "Someone is lying, the public deserves to know the truth" "Someone is lying. The public deserves to know the truth. It is not serious that two administrations sign a protocol, announce the reservation of thousands of hectares of rustic land for macro photovoltaic plants and wind farms, and when the island responds, the excuses, rectifications, and blame game begin," says the island secretary of the PSOE of Lanzarote and deputy in Congress, María Dolores Corujo.
The resolution approved by the Island Committee warns that the areas designated by the ZAR are concentrated in pockets of rural land in enclaves such as Las Breñas, La Degollada and Uga, the axis between Tinajo and La Santa, and the surroundings of Caleta del Caballo, and warns of the "social alarm" generated by a proposal that opens the door to an intensive occupation of the territory and an irreversible alteration of the island's landscape.
"Lanzarote has always defended sustainability seriously, not as a slogan. Renewable energies are essential, and nobody disputes that. What we do dispute is the method. Lanzarote cannot be treated as a plot of land available to the highest bidder. This island has a unique landscape, agricultural, and cultural value, and we are not going to allow it to be put at risk under the guise of express decarbonization," Corujo emphasizes.
"The path is clear," explains María Dolores Corujo. "Before filling agricultural land and the volcanic landscape with solar panels and wind turbines, we must take advantage of Lanzarote's rooftops. That potential exists, has been studied, and is underutilized." Corujo recalls that the Cabildo, under a socialist government, already demonstrated that the roofs of public and private buildings on the island add up to millions of square meters of usable surface area for photovoltaic energy. That potential would allow the generation of hundreds of clean megawatts, well above the current thermal power, directly reducing emissions without sacrificing territory or degrading the landscape.
"Lanzarote already has clean, viable alternatives that are compatible with its identity. What it does not have is room for more territorial outrages," says Corujo. "The energy transition is necessary. What is not negotiable is that it be done at the expense of the landscape, the people, and the island model that we have defended for decades. Lanzarote is not for sale."