Some businessmen have requested the precautionary closure of the Tourist Centers of Lanzarote. The Limited company Fariones Cuatro and in its name Joaquín Barber and Miguel Angel Armas Matallana, Epifanio Delgado representing Playa Blanca 6 SL and Antonio Curbelo Robayna representing Playa Blanca 5 SL have sent letters to the town councils where the Centers are located, warning them that they lack an opening license, which constitutes, according to them, a very serious infraction foreseen in the Legal Regime of Public Shows and Classified Activities, for which they request that a sanctioning file be opened and the closure of the premises be agreed to guarantee the safety of tourists. The applicants also assure that if the town councils do not adopt these precautionary measures within a month, they will take their complaint to the courts of Justice
From the Cabildo of Lanzarote, the request has been described by the Councilor of the Tourist Centers, Carlos Espino, as "a crude and unacceptable attempt of unprecedented blackmail" Espino assures that the possibility that the centers are forced to close does not exist and will not happen, while emphasizing that the Centers have all the necessary security and health guarantees to serve the 2.5 million tourists who visit them each year and those of the workers themselves.
For the councilor, this is the response of some businessmen affected by the paralysis of works in Playa Blanca. "We are facing a crude and unacceptable attempt of blackmail, of unprecedented pressure that comes from a group of businessmen affected by the precautionary paralysis of some works that they intend to carry out in Playa Blanca not the 400 homes that are paralyzed at this moment but a total of 1,800 homes that is what they intended to execute on land that does not exist" points out Espino who also understands that it is a "desperate" exit, " they intend to put the centers against the ropes, the Cabildo and the set of institutions of the islands and the society itself. In a maneuver that demonstrates desperation and arrogance of someone who has no capacity to execute some works".
The councilor assures that the Cabildo did not expect something like this to happen. "I never thought that it would happen, no matter how much some affected businessman said in an angry tone to see what happened with the centers that do not have a license." On the other hand, the highest responsible for the network of tourist centers of the island maintains that a few months ago they have started the process of obtaining municipal licenses since when he accessed them he verified that they lacked the mandatory authorizations.
The request is being processed for months
An aspect that he assures "should not occur. Although historically they were opened at the time without any authorization, the formalization process of the Epel, should have led the public company to have much clearer this type of situations. But well, we have started to comply with these obligations for months, with the drafting of projects such as the replacement of electrical panels, a battery of security matters. And what is clear at this moment is that right now the centers are in conditions to obtain it."
Carlos Espino maintains that most of the process for obtaining these licenses has been completed, and the Classified Activities service of the Cabildo, which is the one that must give the approval, regardless of the fact that the town councils are the ones that give the license, has made a preliminary inspection of all that documentation, before requesting the license from the town councils, as we already did a few months ago. "Therefore the centers comply with the regulations and it is only a matter of time to obtain those licenses"
The councilor does not deny that the request registered in the town councils now requires "to give greater speed to what we were doing, I would be irresponsible if I said that it does not condition us at all" but he points out that he is extremely concerned since always and not only now "the legal situation of the centers, I have always been very concerned about it even for a purely aesthetic question, in the sense that if the Cabildo has constantly made a series of demands with respect to illegal constructions that have nothing to do with what we are talking about, because there what is discussed is whether the land admits those constructions, while in the case of the centers what is discussed is whether a use can be developed in them or not".
Another difference according to Espino fundamental marks the fact that "the centers are built before the Island Plan of Ordination of Lanzarote was made, that when it is formalized and approved recognizes the existence of the centers and even the uses that are given in them"
From the Cabildo it is assured that efforts will be redoubled in the promotion of the Centers "with meetings with tour operators to explain the situation explaining that the security and health of the centers is guaranteed, for our visitors and workers" aware that this fact can harm the image of the main attraction and distinctive of the island that are the tourist centers.
Asked about whether he expects the support of the hotel association and the tourism sector of the island or the opposition parties, Carlos Espino is forceful "I neither trust, nor expect, nor desire, nor need that explicit support. In all this, the least that paints is the councilor or the government group, here the only thing that counts are the centers, it is not about supporting the councilor it is about the whole island, its society. The only reaction that fits is a no. A up to here. Someone has crossed a line that should never have been crossed.
"The response to this type of mafia practices with an air of Sicilian defense requires a forceful reaction in defense of the centers, of the island because it is not possible to use as a bargaining chip or as an element of pressure what at this moment is the main face of the island in front of our visitors and what differentiates us from other destinations and that also affects the whole island"
"These gentlemen, who at this moment intend to pressure the society of Lanzarote taking the centers as hostages are not going to get away with it."
