The Government of the Canary Islands is finalizing the document on the complementary leisure offer that will include the Special Territorial Plan. On Monday morning, the Minister of Tourism of the Regional Executive, Manuel Fajardo Feo, presented the first phase of the report together with the drafter of the document to the mayors and councilors of the municipalities, with the absence of the representatives of Teguise and San Bartolomé. An advance that has consisted of a diagnosis and opinion study to take the pulse of the demands of tourists. And tourists seem to be satisfied with the model offered by Lanzarote, so "the offer that is proposed will have to be with very clear conditions. First, that it is necessary and then that the environmental and territorial impact is minimal or none", assured the coordinator of the working team of the document, José Francisco Herrera.
The report, which was commissioned to the Government of the Canary Islands, after the seven town councils demanded that the Special Territorial Plan include a leisure offer, is not binding, so the final decision will be made by the Cabildo. In principle, it aims to identify the offers, locate them and study their viability, both territorial, environmental and economic. "It makes no sense to do a macro-project that absorbs all the spending capacity of tourists and that then no more projects can be developed, because they would not be profitable", argued José Francisco Herrero.
From the territorial point of view, the document recognizes that those that had the greatest impact, such as golf courses or marinas, are already planned or in operation. In fact, based on the demands and the alternatives that could have a place in complementary leisure, the offers include aquatic activities, nightlife or hiking. This means that in the future it is not so "necessary" to develop "radically different projects from those already existing" and it is proposed to "focus on the renovation and updating of the current offer".
Manuel Fajardo Feo highlighted the importance of creating an island Plan and not a summary that independently collects the offers of each locality. "The idea is that it is a complementary leisure, also between municipalities. Currently there are five town councils that have proposed the creation of an auditorium, and although the auditorium is a demanded offer, there is no room for everyone", highlighted José Francisco Herrero.
The final document will be presented in December, according to the Minister of Tourism of the Government of the Canary Islands, and will include the types of complementary leisure that will condition the planning of the territory.
