The mayor of Yaiza, José Francisco Reyes, surprised locals and strangers alike this Tuesday by expressing, in statements made to the ACN Press agency, his desire to open a negotiation with the Island Council to try to bury the hatchet that both institutions have raised over lawsuits linked to the defense of the territory and the strict application of the latest revision of the Island Territorial Planning Plan (PIOT). This proposal received a full response from the authorities of the First Island Corporation, still surprised by an offer whose scope they hope to measure in the coming days, once the municipal proposal is formalized and specified and the meeting in which the theoretical dialogue should begin is established.
Reyes, who opts to "sit down to dialogue" as the only way out to try to redirect the situation caused after the denial of opening and operating licenses to three large establishments in Playa Blanca, says he does not fear legal actions against his decisions to grant licenses because these have the "endorsement of technicians and jurists". Furthermore, contradicting actions such as appealing to the Supreme Court (TS) the decision of the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands (TSJC) to force him to hand over the licenses that he has not wanted to hand over to the Cabildo, he assures that he has "never" refused to resolve the problem amicably, that is, through dialogue.
The mayor's words have already had their response. Both Inés Rojas and Manuel Fajardo agreed to express, in statements made this Wednesday on the Buenos Días program of Radio Lanzarote, their surprise at the sudden request for dialogue, assuming the possibility that it will occur when the conditions are met.
Rojas commented first that "I had no idea that he had made that offer and I don't know if it has formally reached the Cabildo", immediately assuring that what was stated "contradicts what has been done so far". "If the Yaiza City Council is taking these steps, as president of the Cabildo I am pleased that this is the case, because everyone knows that what I have always defended is that the Island Government has perfect harmony with its seven city councils. If it is truly said that they are willing to sit down, we will be taking a giant step, and the Cabildo will open its doors for Yaiza to enter", he explained, regretting that this same thing could not have been done "before" and all the political and judicial problems that have occurred could have been avoided.
Fajardo's opinion
The first vice president was much harsher than the president, who is clear that there will never be a meeting with Yaiza if it is not to talk about strict compliance with current law. Thus, he asserted that "negotiate yes, but strictly on legality". "Any issue that deviates from legality is non-negotiable, you cannot negotiate outside the negative framework with which we have all provided ourselves, although better late than never", he indicated.
The leader of the Lanzarote socialists highlighted how strange it is that after so many years of having done and said the opposite, the City Council now admits that it is willing to sit down to dialogue, insisting that there has been no type of persecution on the part of the Cabildo.
What Fajardo does not agree with at all is that it is said happily that everything that has been done in the south of the Island has the appropriate technical and legal support, since in his opinion it is a matter that the courts will have to determine. "Let no one forget that there are a series of lawsuits initiated by the Cabildo that are still unresolved", he recalled, insisting once again that "dialogue should not be confused with a perverse negotiation".
He warned that he hopes that the supposed negotiations will not be attempted to be started two days before the Special Territorial Plan is approved with which it is intended to declassify more than 25,000 beds and 5 million square meters or that it is not intended to negotiate that we look the other way in this matter.
On the other hand, the person responsible for signing the first resolution against the request by the Papagayo Arena hotel for an opening and operating license, said that it would be "great news" if it were confirmed that the Government of the Canary Islands is willing to allow the Cabildo to resolve these files, although he would not understand this being the case when for years the officials of the First Island Corporation were being told that a modification of the law was required to resolve this issue. "If it now turns out that there is some legal opinion from the Ministry of Tourism that tells us that we have in our hands the competence that has been denied to us for some time, we would find ourselves in a Kafkaesque situation, although I would not be surprised if that possibility arose", he stressed.
If this extreme is finally confirmed, he assured that he is convinced that "our pulse will not tremble" when determining the actions that are aimed at preventing establishments not covered by the law from continuing to operate. "All this is mere speculation, because until now only the three signed resolutions have been made known to the promoters and the Government of the Canary Islands so that it can act accordingly. Yesterday (Tuesday) we learned that one of the establishments has been deregistered in the register of tourist establishments of the Autonomous Community, and the following steps will be determined by the rumor that has been circulating for days about the powers", he determined.
