Repsol itself and the Minister of Industry, José Manuel Soria, are the ones "encouraging other companies to announce oil drilling near the Canary Islands." This is what the Cabildo of Fuerteventura maintains, which has come out against the news that some regional media have been publishing for two weeks, regarding the new explorations that Morocco would apparently be authorizing on the other side of the imaginary median that separates the Canary Islands from Africa.
According to the president of Majorera, Mario Cabrera, "the multinational oil company Repsol and the multi-oil minister Soria have launched the largest advertising campaign in the Canary Islands to muddy the waters of the islands' public opinion with fear of the African neighbor."
In Cabrera's opinion, "as they have no arguments to defend the goodness of oil drilling in waters near Fuerteventura and Lanzarote, they are now entertaining themselves by transmitting the message of fear to the African neighbor: if others are going to drill, why aren't we going to drill?"
Faced with this, the Cabildo of Fuerteventura assures that the answer is clear: "the Government of Spain, President Rajoy, and if there is anyone left in his cabinet who is not a friend of the oil companies, has to speak in terms of the future, not as it was spoken 200 years ago and playing with fear of the neighbor. We must promote renewable energy projects in this area, if they are joint with neighboring African countries, all the better."
According to the Majorera Corporation, "oil only brings servitude and colonialist submission to multinationals." And Mario Cabrera believes that "the attitude of multinationals in Africa is not only an ecological threat, it is a democratic threat."
The president of the Cabildo announced that "during the coming months, the trickle of pitch in public opinion will be permanent. They have plenty of money for it. But the oil companies are wrong, the people who live on these islands are not fooled and know what pitch has brought to other places. We do not want the same historical mistake to be repeated here."
Meeting with Rajoy
On the other hand, the Plenary of the Cabildo of Fuerteventura approved last Friday (with the votes in favor of the Government Group and the PPM, the abstention of the Mixed Group and against the PP) the content of a motion from the government group (CC and PSOE), which ratifies, once again, "the opposition to oil drilling projects in our waters and invites the President of the Government of Spain to visit the island and listen directly to the reasons for this opposition from the citizens and scientists."
"This same invitation was approved in the Plenary Sessions of September 28 and October 26, but given the lack of interest and responses from the Presidency of the Government of Spain, it has been decided to reiterate it," they point out from the Cabildo.
The Corporation insists that "this approval of oil exploration has been made against the opinion and institutional and public positions of the Government of the Canary Islands, the Parliament of the Canary Islands and the Cabildos of Fuerteventura and Lanzarote. As well as all the town councils of both islands, which have repeatedly demanded, and through multiple initiatives, the effective suspension of oil authorizations."
