The Cabildo rejects the statements made by the mayor of Arrecife and president of the Popular Party, Astrid Pérez, in a public call to report on the situation of buildings with heritage character in the surroundings of Calle Real.
The Councilor for Historical Heritage in the Cabildo of Arrecife, Ariagona González, has explained, as responsible for the initiation of the Assets of Cultural Interest (BIC), that the Historical Heritage Law approved in the last legislature, with the vote of Astrid Pérez, allows works to be carried out on the aforementioned properties, unlike what happened with the previous legislation.
“It is not true that the BIC declaration paralyzes the execution of the works, it only submits them to prior authorization by the Historical Heritage Commission”, explained the socialist councilor who has reproached the mayor for spreading fear and misinformation in a new episode of the ideological war on the city model that she has been maintaining in recent years.
“The best example is what has happened with the Avenue and the commerce of Arrecife”, recalled Ariagona González, “Astrid Pérez opted to take a step back in the partial pedestrianization of our marina, assuring that it would be a boost for small businesses, and the reality is that the situation has worsened”.
The socialist councilor explained that, in addition, "most of the actions to boost local commerce in Arrecife correspond to actions by the Government of the Canary Islands or the Cabildo of Lanzarote, to the point that last year the Arrecife City Council had to return the subsidy granted by the Cabildo for not having developed the committed actions".
“Whoever is not capable of promoting an authentic plan to boost local commerce and its flagship, Calle Real, has no excuse to try to hold other administrations responsible for their failure as mayor. The president of the Popular Party, instead of looking for solutions, wants to turn the merchants and owners of Calle Real into hostages of her ideological battle, as she did with the pedestrianization of the Avenue”, the councilor reproached.
"The disinformation campaign"
Regarding the properties declared BIC, the councilor explained that all of them, except for two properties, including the Hotel Oriental, were affected by a previous declaration, which had expired due to the inactivity of the previous Government of the Canary Islands.
“It is not an arbitrary or poorly founded decision. All these properties have been protected for years for their architectural or historical values and the Historical Heritage service has limited itself to updating that protection that had been lost due to the irresponsibility of Coalición Canaria”, explained the councilor.
In the case of the Hotel Oriental, González pointed out that prior to the BIC declaration, the Arrecife City Council had been informed on numerous occasions of the existence of values in the aforementioned property, without the latter acknowledging the repeated warnings from the Historical Heritage service.
Ariagona González reminded the mayor that the protection of an asset with heritage values does not mean that it cannot be intervened in: “If Astrid Pérez really wants to know what the protection of a building entails, she can go to Calle Manolo Millares and see how the project carried out in the old Fajardo bookstore has turned out. An exemplary action that satisfies the legitimate aspirations of the property, improving the quality of the city”.
“Astrid Pérez must stop lying and start explaining that the protection of our history or the liberation of spaces for people has no place in her city model”, the councilor concluded.