"The exhibition intends to make us all aware that the coastline can be a protected, sustainable and car-free space." In this way, the Councilor for the Environment, Tourism, Commerce and Consumption of the Arrecife City Council, Rafael Juan González, has presented the Arrecife 2012 Environmental Exhibition, which will reveal that the avenue "without cars is possible".
Thus, although the activities framed in this exhibition will begin on October 17, the key day will be Saturday the 20th. "We are going to stage the value and importance that we understand the Arrecife coastline has, closing the Avenue from the Puente de Las Bolas to the entrance of the Arrecife Gran Hotel, from 8:00 in the morning to 00:00 hours", explained the mayor, who was accompanied at the press conference by the Minister of the Environment of the Cabildo, Mónica Álvarez, and the president of the Lanzarote Chamber of Commerce, José Torres Fuentes.
On the 20th there will also be recreational, sports and cultural activities, which will take place on public roads with the aim of claiming for citizens a space traditionally destined for cars and road traffic. Attendees can also enjoy live music and from 1:00 p.m. a gastronomic tasting by the bars in the area, which will offer tapas for one euro.
Activities from October 17 to 20
The rest of the activities will take place from October 17 to 20 in the José Ramírez Cerdá Park. In them, a total of 24 companies related to the sale of electric and hybrid cars and the installation of measures for energy saving in water, electricity, heating or cooling in the home will participate.
The capital's head of the Environment has explained that within the activities proposed, "the little ones will have the opportunity to learn more about the benefits of recycling and the importance of adopting more rational positions with the waste generated day by day for the environment, through the realization of craft workshops with disposable products".
Guided tours of the coastline will be developed, which will be aimed at the school public in the morning and open to the general public, upon subscription, in the afternoon. "The object of valuing the most relevant environment of the municipality and greater importance not only from the point of view of the urban and landscape environment, but from the natural one, since it hosts a large number of animal and plant species, which together form a unique ecosystem in the entire Canary archipelago", the councilor highlighted.
For her part, the Minister of the Environment of the Cabildo de Lanzarote, Mónica Álvarez, explained that "institutions must be the first to promote environmental awareness and that is why each of the activities that are carried out for its protection is important." The president of the Chamber of Commerce, José Torres, stressed the importance of public-private collaboration to be able to develop events such as this environmental exhibition, in which "electric vehicles will be exhibited, some of which do not even exist on the island."
For her part, the Councilor for Education and Sports of the capital, Paca Toledo, stressed that on Saturday the 20th, along the section of road closed to traffic, "you can enjoy various sports activities such as beach tennis, skating, basketball and soccer games." She also recalled that throughout the week we will be working with the schools in the municipality. "We have launched a drawing contest that has the coastline as its theme," she said. The prize will be a visit to the Art, Culture and Tourism Centers for the class of the author of the winning drawing.
Scientific campaign
On the other hand, the capital's head of the Environment has also pointed out that together with the development of the exhibition, a scientific campaign will be carried out to work on obtaining data and "in situ" analysis of the ecosystems and data obtained in previous campaigns. The focus of these investigations will be on the Arrecife coastline in general, but very particularly in the area of the Charco de San Ginés.
"These scientists, from different Spanish universities (Oviedo, Murcia, Las Palmas and Tenerife) will be in the exhibition grounds in the afternoons giving talks about the topics of their studies and about others of great interest to the citizens of the municipality and the island, such as the impact of oil on coastal ecosystems and the capacity for regeneration and importance of coastal ecosystems in closed or degraded environments such as the Arrecife Marina", González reported.