Somos Lanzarote has regretted that the vote against the members of the Government group of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, formed by CC, PIL and PSOE, prevented the Plenary of the institution, held last Friday, from approving its motion "in favor of the defense of the values" of the Tindaya mountain, in Fuerteventura. The institution voted against promoting this mountain, considered "sacred" by the indigenous Majos, and which houses one of the largest stations of rock engravings in the Archipelago, as a World Heritage Site.
Somos emphasizes that this motion was "fully proactive, and did not assess the project of the late sculptor Eduardo Chillida for the mountain, which is promoted by the Government of the Canary Islands and the Cabildo of the neighboring island and that has nothing to do with the historical or environmental values of that space." "The legitimate criticism against the tens of millions of euros that have vanished from the public coffers of the Canary Islands without having moved even a stone was not raised in the motion either," Somos Lanzarote clarifies.
"Far from criticism, the initiative urged the Lanzarote corporation to cooperate with the competent institutions in the protection and dissemination of the cultural and environmental heritage of the Tindaya complex, as it is one of the main contributions of the culture of the Majos (ancient settlers of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura) to current Canarian society and to universal cultural heritage," the party emphasizes.
Precisely, the second part of the proposal intended that the Cabildo promote, together with the rest of the Canarian institutions, the declaration of the sacred mountain as a World Heritage Site, as it meets many of the criteria that UNESCO establishes for inscription in this catalog, in which the great cultural and environmental milestones of the planet are found, and which would mean an incomparable promotion for Tindaya and the island. "However, like their organizations on the island of Fuerteventura, CC and PSOE in Lanzarote voted against promoting this award," the organization reproaches them.
The project that CC and PSOE intend "attacks the heritage values"
For Somos Lanzarote, the fact that parties such as Coalición Canaria or the PSOE oppose Tindaya increasing its degree of recognition and protection "demonstrates that, in reality, the sculptural and tourist project they intend for the mountain, consisting of extracting the trachyte to drill a 50-meter hole inside it, attacks the heritage values that this space preserves." "A good part of the Canarian scientific community has also spoken out in the same sense, considering it necessary to fully protect the monument, as well as to disseminate the existing heritage through a project in accordance with the richness that Tindaya has housed for centuries," they add.
In addition, Somos points out the "contradiction that Coalición Canaria has been flaunting throughout its decades of government, when, on the one hand, it 'sells' itself as a nationalist party to the electorate, while promoting projects that degrade or destroy the fragile insular natural environment, as well as the cultural heritage received by the Canarian people from their ancestors."
"Those who do not bet on promoting the protection of a first-rate cultural legacy such as the one treasured by Tindaya, arguing that we are talking about another island, when it is a cultural heritage that identifies us as Canarians, cannot call themselves nationalists, and that deserves to be recognized as a heritage of humanity."
In any case, Somos believes that "votes like this one expose the contradictions of the promoters of the Chillida project, who talk about conserving but refuse to register in a protection catalog, and who use the argument of generating wealth and jobs, while positioning themselves against a recognition, that of World Heritage, which would place the island and indigenous heritage at the forefront of the attractions for its visit; what they are really looking for is the business of a few, and it is becoming increasingly evident," they conclude.
