The Cabildo and Costas of Canarias criticize the demolition of the historic staircase of El Golfo

The Cabildo of Lanzarote and the Directorate General of Coasts of the Government of the Canary Islands have called for greater coordination between administrations after the demolition of the historic access staircase to the sea in El Golfo, an infrastructure over eighty years old that was part of the ethnographic heritage and collective memory of the town.

The Minister of Environment of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Samuel Martín, and the Director General of Coasts of the Government of the Canary Islands, Antonio Acosta, visited the area together with residents of El Golfo to understand the scope of the action carried out by the State Coasts and to hear firsthand the concerns of the residents.

During the visit, both administrations agreed that actions on the coastline must be planned through institutional collaboration, taking into account environmental criteria, heritage, social, and economic values of each enclave.

Minister Samuel Martín emphasized the value this infrastructure had for the residents of El Golfo and for the identity of the municipality. “We are talking about an element that was part of the history of El Golfo and the memory of several generations of residents. Any action on our coastline must be compatible with the conservation of those elements that are part of our heritage,” he pointed out.

For his part, the Director General of Coasts of the Government of the Canary Islands, Antonio Acosta, regretted that an intervention of these characteristics was carried out without the necessary coordination with the Canary Islands administrations. “The protection of the coastline cannot be understood solely from a physical perspective. It also involves protecting heritage, history, and the way of life linked to these spaces. Actions like this must be addressed through dialogue and cooperation between administrations,” he insisted.

Both officials also conveyed to the residents the commitment to continue working so that actions on the coastline are developed with greater institutional coordination and from a vision that balances environmental conservation with the protection of the heritage and identity of coastal communities.