It is the third time that he has presented himself as a PP candidate for the Tías City Council, what makes you think that this time you can become mayor of the municipality?
The residents of Tías consider that there has been very poor management by the PSOE, that this City Council has had many resources that have not been used. Due to this mismanagement, citizens believe that it is time for change, that other people should be in charge of the City Council. The change in Tías is unstoppable, because more than the PP, those who are crying out for it are the residents of the municipality.
Do you consider it necessary for the City Council to face a political change?
It is essential and unstoppable. The residents are asking for change because we have once again found a PSOE candidate who has been in the Tías Consistory since 1983. He is a candidate and a party that has run out of ideas, projects and enthusiasm. Public funds have been mismanaged, and the residents of Tías believe that other people should be given an opportunity and, specifically, the PP, because it has become the only real alternative to govern in the municipality.
How would you define the management of the PSOE and, specifically, of the mayor José Juan Cruz Saavedra at the head of the Tías City Council?
It is being very poor, decisions have been made that instead of improving the quality of the municipality have managed to worsen it. One of them was the elimination of one of the lanes of the Avenida de Las Playas in Puerto del Carmen. This has meant that many businesses have closed and many jobs have been lost. In addition, Puerto del Carmen, which was the main tourist spot on the island, is now the third in terms of occupancy.
Are you convinced that Puerto del Carmen has lost tourists due to the management of the PSOE?
Indeed. In Puerto del Carmen, actions aimed at improving all public infrastructures should have been carried out some years ago. We have been demanding for a long time that the City Council undertake remodeling plans to improve the tourist area of Puerto del Carmen, because it has been the economic engine of the municipality of Tías and the island of Lanzarote for the last 40 years.
But the modernization plan for Puerto del Carmen has been undertaken.
What is your opinion of this project and what actions should be carried out in the tourist town?
I must say that the PP applauds the fact that such an important project is going to be carried out. This initiative has been an idea of the Government of the Canary Islands, in which the Tías City Council also participates. This will help Puerto del Carmen to become an important tourist destination again, the most important on the island of Lanzarote and one of the most important in the Canary Islands. Likewise, during the time that the works are carried out, jobs will be created, it will give wealth to the municipality and the City Council will have income through building permits. In a few years we will be able to have shopping centers or parking areas in Puerto del Carmen, which are very necessary in this town.
Although you criticize his management, the mayor of Tías has highlighted that the City Council has been one of the ones that has invested the most during this legislature, specifically, about 60 million euros. Do you have the same opinion?
It is true that there have been significant investments in this legislature, but the most important ones have been those that have been financed by Plan E, the Government of the Canary Islands or the European Community, such as the port of Puerto del Carmen, the rainwater project or the remodeling of Avenida de Las Playas. The City Council has contributed, it is true, but it does not exceed 15 or 20 percent of those 60 million euros.
Currently, what debt does the City Council have?
Today we find ourselves with a debt that, if we count the sentence that we have recently learned about and that condemns the Tías City Council to pay more than 3.5 million euros for a forced expropriation, already amounts to about 32 million euros. I have to say that the sentence has been appealed to the Supreme Court, but only a part, with which the City Council could reduce the sentence by 800,000 euros. But it will surely have to pay more than 2.6 million euros.
What would you do to minimize that debt?
The situation is very complicated. We hope that the debt is not greater than the one we know. We hope not to find any surprises. Our objective is to reduce the debt for which we will carry out austere plans and contain spending. We cannot continue to waste money. Those people who hold a public office cannot continue to charge what they are charging now. One of the measures we want to propose is to reduce positions with exclusive dedication and salaries.
The legislature in Tías has been very turbulent. First, the PSOE governed together with the PIL and, later, it agreed with CC. What is your assessment of these agreements?
PIL and CC made a serious mistake. Four years have been lost. It was time to change, the residents had already decided in the 2007 elections to remove the majority from the PSOE. A government pact could have been formed between the PP, the PIL and CC. The PIL did not want it to be that way, and in the second part of the legislature it was CC who did not want it to be that way, violating the party's directive. The only thing that has been achieved with these government pacts has been to continue burying the City Council in that debt that we have, and that the Tías City Council is a Consistory to which suppliers do not want to sell. PIL and CC have contributed to Tías taking decisions that have harmed the municipality.
Would you be willing to agree to take power from the PSOE in Tías?
Our objective is to achieve a sufficient majority of councilors to face four intense years, of a lot of work, where many changes must be made and a turn must be given to politics in Tías. Our objective is to govern alone.
But majorities are not always achieved?
No, it is not easy and, therefore, we must be open to dialogue with other formations to achieve a government majority.
Could those contacts even be with the PSOE?
It would be almost unthinkable, but I owe myself to a political formation and I will have to respect what my party says. If I am asked as a candidate if I would agree with the PSOE, I say that it is not in my plans to agree with the socialists.
You say that you have a team "prepared to govern". What would you highlight about your electoral list?
It is made up of women and men from the municipality of Tías. It is a list that represents the towns of the municipality. Some of the people have experience because they have been PP councilors in Tías. There are also new people with training, graduates in Law or Business. They have a public vocation and want the municipality to recover and the residents to feel satisfied and happy to live in Tías.
If you become mayor from May 22, what would be your priority objectives?
If that happens and I hope it will, because that is what the atmosphere on the street says, the first thing I will do is sit down with all the municipal technicians so that they can update us on how this City Council is. I do not rule out carrying out an audit to find out in depth what the situation of the Consistory is. We will start working from the beginning so that the change begins to be noticed. In the next four years, important projects will not be able to be faced, but we hope that with the improvement of the economy, investments can be made in both the private and public spheres.
How would you convince a citizen to place their trust in you?
Both this candidate and the rest of the people who make up my candidacy are people who want to contribute to the municipality what we consider that those who have been at the head of the government have not contributed. I believe that citizens will bet on the PP, because they are tired of the mayor who has been holding that power for 16 years, who no longer has ideas or projects. People see in us people with enthusiasm, with new projects and with new ways of doing politics. The PP candidacy is the best.
