The Ministry of Territorial Policy, Territorial Cohesion and Water of the Government of the Canary Islands will assume the cost of the periodic cleaning of the black wells of La Graciosa, as a temporary solution until the sanitation and purification works paralyzed in 2018 by judicial ruling that rejected the emergency of the same can be completed. This decision is made after the residents of Graciosa, distressed by the situation, demanded a solution from the Canarian Executive.
The Minister of Territorial Policy, Manuel Miranda, has committed to the residents of the eighth island, during a visit on Tuesday morning to agree on the roadmap agreed between the Government of the Canary Islands, the Cabildo of Lanzarote and the City Council of Teguise.
The Minister of Territorial Policy, Manuel Miranda, reaffirmed the Government's commitment to complete the projects and the execution of the supply, sanitation and water purification works of La Graciosa before the end of the legislature, and thanked the residents for their "patience and understanding during these years of waiting and uncertainty."
"The problem of La Graciosa is very complex, because we have to act in a natural space of special protection such as the Chinijo Archipelago, whose Rector Plan for Use and Management has been suspended by the Superior Court of Justice and the Supreme Court since 2017, but I believe that we have found a viable, rigorous and realistic solution that will inevitably take us a couple of years of processing to act rigorously and not take risks," explained Manuel Miranda.
The plan includes the suspension of planning, provided for in article 168 of the Land Law for "exceptional actions promoted by the Autonomous Government when there are justified reasons of public, social or economic interest", as well as the declaration of work of regional interest.
The technicians of the Ministry of Territorial Policy, Territorial Cohesion and Water are already working simultaneously on both procedures, in coordination with the Cabildo of Lanzarote and the City Council of Teguise. According to the first schedule handled by the specialists, La Graciosa will have a new supply system by the end of 2025, and sanitation and purification, by the beginning of 2027.
"The residents of La Graciosa will have the cleaning service of their black wells or septic tanks covered until then, and will also participate in a monitoring commission created specifically so that they have direct and updated information at all times about the steps that the different administrations are taking," announced Minister Manuel Miranda.
The meeting with the residents was held at the Inocencia Páez Civic Center, and was attended by the mayor of Teguise, Olivia Duque, and the island councilor for Water, Domingo Cejas. In addition, on behalf of the Government of the Canary Islands, the Deputy Minister of Territorial Cohesion and Water, Marcos Lorenzo; the General Director of Water, Mónica Gómez; and the General Director of Territorial Planning, Onán Cruz, also traveled to La Graciosa.
The president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Oswaldo Betancort, recalled the difficulties of recent years in promoting these projects and described the new situation as "positive news, to boost the sanitation and supply projects, in coordination with the City Council, the Island Water Consortium and the Government of the Canary Islands, which during the process and until the new systems come into operation will be responsible for the management of sanitation and purification."
The mayor, Olivia Duque, thanked the Government and the Cabildo for their presence on the Island "to present a roadmap that will finally solve the sanitation and supply problem in La Graciosa." Duque recalled that the residents of the Island "were abandoned for four years by the previous officials of the Autonomous Government and the Cabildo, so this impulse is excellent news for them."
Paralyzed by court order
As will be recalled, the sanitation works and construction of the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) of La Graciosa were paralyzed in 2018, because the declaration of emergency that protected them was considered inappropriate. Added to this situation is the complexity of the annulment of the Rector Plan for Use and Management of the Natural Park of the Chinijo Archipelago, by a ruling of the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands in 2016, confirmed by the Supreme Court in 2018.
The current Government of the Canary Islands initiated, as soon as it took office, the studies to redirect the projects, both sanitation and purification, as well as supply, and the beginning of a first phase of coordination of the areas of Water and Territorial Planning in November 2023.
The procedures for declaring the works as being of regional interest, after suspending planning in the area, began in the same month of November and are expected to be completed in the month of September 2024.
At the same time that the administrative files were being promoted, the necessary field work has been carried out to draft the projects and proceed with their processing, especially those linked to the supply part. In this case, the project is already being drafted that will allow, from the month of October 2024, to initiate the processing of the different necessary reports, including those of an environmental nature, in addition to the request for the relevant permits.
This phase will conclude in March 2025, at which time the execution of the works can be tendered, which is expected to begin in August of that same year. Once these deadlines have been met, the new supply in La Graciosa could come into service at the end of 2025.
Tender for the drafting of the project
Regarding sanitation and purification, the drafting of the project is currently being tendered, which includes both the networks and completing the treatment plant, whose works were stopped after the annulment of the emergency procedure. The Ministry will award said drafting in December of this year, so that in the summer of 2025 a definitive project can be available, with respect to which it will be necessary to request, as in the previous case, the mandatory reports and permits. This phase, which is mandatory, must conclude in November 2025 to, subsequently, tender the execution of the work and start the work in April 2026. In this case, according to the forecasts handled by the technicians, it is planned to finish them in March 2027.
