The house that the Cabildo acquired on Fajardo Street has "serious" structural problems and, in addition, Arrecife's current planning does not allow the planned works to be carried out. This is what the government group acknowledged this Thursday, to explain the delay in the project to turn this property, which it acquired more than 3 years ago for 1.6 million euros, into an archaeological museum. "What you are right about is that I was wrong to give unforeseen dates, I apologize. And I don't plan to make the same mistake," responded the president of the Cabildo, Pedro San Ginés, to the criticisms launched from the Popular Party.
It was this formation who requested an appearance in the Plenary so that San Ginés would explain what is happening with that project, to which the Cabildo has already allocated at least 2.5 million between the purchase, projects and works, without the bulk of the work having been executed yet. In fact, as they have confirmed this Thursday, there is not even a project for the museum part itself, because they have faced another problem with the planning of Arrecife, as it is a protected building. "Everything that is undertaken in it is controlled," explained the Minister of Heritage, Carmen Rosa Márquez, pointing out that the City Council did not duly detail the interventions that could be authorized in its day. "I hope and trust that the General Plan that is being processed, one of two: either it contemplates what can be done or the protection contained in the provisions that were approved in 2003 will lapse," said Pedro San Ginés for his part.
As for the lateral warehouses in which they did begin to intervene, they also have no opening date, despite the fact that they announced in their day that they would open for the past year 2015-2016. In this regard, the Minister explained that one is already finished, although the archaeological material has not yet been incorporated, but in the other they found "serious problems". As she detailed, "the ceilings were not in ideal conditions, so a new project had to be made to tear down the entire roof and put it back on." "It seems that the initial information that was available was not correct, since the surveys are carried out in certain places and not in others," she explained, thus arousing criticism from the opposition, which has asked how the value of the property was assessed then and how the purchase could be made without knowing the real state of the house.
"You start tiling and end up restructuring the whole bathroom"
Regarding the problems in that second warehouse, the Minister explained that they had to develop a new project, which was re-commissioned to the public company Tragsa, and they are awaiting a report from the Technical Office to be able to carry it out. "It is intended, I hope so, that it will be completely finished by the end of the year. But as the president says, I no longer dare to give dates because something new comes out every time and everyone knows that when we are working, we start with the tiling and end up with the restructuring of an entire bathroom," the Minister has stated.
From there, the two warehouses - one for exhibition and the other for workshops - would be "put into operation", but the opening of the museum itself in the house would have to wait. "Until the General Plan of Arrecife changes, we do not know what we can do in it. The only thing we can do is conserve and restore. For this, we can only fix the structures of the same and attend to the entire sanitation part," she admitted.
Upon learning of this other justification for the delay, the PP has also addressed San Ginés to ask him if he was not aware of these circumstances when he decided to acquire the property and when he announced the museum project. "Of course, if the head of Historical Heritage, who is the one who proposes the acquisition, does not know, I do not have to know," responded the president, pointing to who was then the head of this area, Nona Perera. He has repeatedly referred to her in his speech, insisting that the proposal to acquire that property came from her.
"That house was acquired because it was proposed by the technical management of Heritage and the jurist. They were the ones who had been negotiating in writing for years for the archaeological museum to be in that place and we bought the house," said the president, who at the time appointed Nona Perera as director of the museum, but shortly after dismissed her from the position, when the technician prepared a report in which she questioned the project that was being carried out, stating among other things that the heritage values that justified that purchase were being destroyed. In addition, in that report dated December 2014, Perera already warned that the structure of the building was "in danger" and that the first project prepared by Tragsa did not define the interventions on the roofs. Almost two years later, the Cabildo has made public those problems in the roof, at least in one of the warehouses, stating that it learned of them last May.
"I'm not going to waste my health or mortify myself anymore with this matter"
During the appearance in the Plenary, the president also returned to respond to the criticisms he received in his day when approving the purchase of this property, since it belonged to the parents of who was then his girlfriend. "You have not and will not embarrass me because it is not who wants to offend but who can. On the contrary, you know positively that that relationship was supervening, as a result of the decision that was made in this Plenary on the acquisition of that real estate," San Ginés responded to the spokesperson for the PP, Ángel Vázquez, who in reality had not made express reference to that relationship.
"I am not going to waste my health or mortify myself anymore with this matter," continued the president, who has faced several spokespersons on this matter. "I accept it with sportsmanship, it no longer affects me, it doesn't keep me up at night. Even I say it to friends. I didn't have to hide anything. I didn't hide it then and I don't hide it now. My private life is my private life," concluded San Ginés, insisting that that relationship was "supervening", after it was decided to acquire the house.