Somos Lanzarote has denounced that "the controversial metallic container" installed by the Centers of Art, Culture and Tourism in front of the Castle of San José "has been outside the law for 20 months", since the last permit granted by the Historical Heritage area for a structure that in principle should have been temporary, "of less than one year", expired in December 2015.
In addition, it states that since November 2016 this "container", located in the surroundings of a building cataloged with the highest level of protection, as an Asset of Cultural Interest, was denounced by the Seprona of the Civil Guard to the Heritage Service of the Cabildo itself. And according to explains, this police detachment has addressed up to three times -in November 2016 and in February and May 2017- to the island institution requesting information on the resolution of what they consider a "alleged violation of the Historical Heritage Law of the Canary Islands by the public entity" of the CACT, according to the file to which Somos Lanzarote has had access.
Appeal of replacement: the Cabildo against the Cabildo
For the party, "the height of absurdity, of the disastrous management and of the mockery towards the laws that affect us all, starting with the administration itself", is that the Heritage Councilor of the Cabildo, Carmen Rosa Márquez, of Coalición Canaria, signed -after repeated warnings from the Civil Guard- a resolution on May 8, 2017 in which she orders the removal of the metallic structure, an order against which another area of the same Cabildo, in this case the Tourist Centers, also directed by Coalición Canaria, through Echedey Eugenio, has filed an appeal for reconsideration through administrative channels, alleging, among other things, that "the principle of legitimate trust" is being violated by Heritage.
"The situation is so bizarre that a CEO of the CACT, José Juan Lorenzo, and a Councilor of Coalición Canaria, Echedey Eugenio, are litigating against another area of the same Cabildo and directed by a person of the same political formation, occupying public time and money in the defense of a container that has been without legal coverage for many months, and all because of their inability to find alternatives to a metallic structure involved in controversy from the beginning, which not only has been degrading the perception of one of the most valuable historical buildings of Arrecife and Lanzarote for 5 years, but also with which it shows its lack of respect for the rules that the Cabildo itself must enforce, according to its powers", says the spokesman of Somos Lanzarote.
Initial authorization of one year and it has been more than five
The "controversial" container placed by initiative of the CEO of the CACT in front of the Castle of San José was authorized as a "temporary solution" by the Historical Heritage commission of the Cabildo in February 2012 to house the store and ticket sales of the Museum, establishing as a condition that "it would remain for a period not exceeding one year, extendable to six months more".
Two days before the deadline, in January 2015, the CACT requested a new authorization, this time for one year, to which Heritage responded in June 2015 with a second extension of six months. From the end of it, that is, since December 2015, "the metallic structure has no legal coverage because it violates the Historical Heritage Law of the Canary Islands", according to Somos. And it is that this law establishes that it corresponds to the area of Heritage "to authorize, after a report from the Insular Commission of Historical Heritage, the use and the works to be carried out in the assets of cultural interest". "That is why the Civil Guard has denounced the matter and the Heritage Councilor has ended up ordering the removal", the party points out in a statement.
In his appeal for reconsideration against the removal order, José Juan Lorenzo alleges, on behalf of the CACT, that the container is included "in the context of the exciting project of expansion and improvement of the MIAC facilities"; that "they do not find reasons in the regulations" to ensure that with the container they are not "maintaining or enhancing the visual effects, profiles, structure, setting and everything that constitutes the historical and cultural interest" of the fortress of San José. In addition, Lorenzo warns in his appeal that "in case the request for suspension of removal" of the container is not granted, "serious damage could be caused to the public company of the CACT, to the Asset of Cultural Interest, to the works of art exhibited in it and even to its visitors".
For its part, Somos Lanzarote demands that Lorenzo and Echedey Eugenio stop "using the Centers of Art, Culture and Tourism as if it were a farm not subject to the law", while urging the Heritage Councilor to initiate a sanctioning file to prevent further violations against the cultural assets of the island by those who, in their capacity as public officials, should protect them".
