Following the recent announcement by the Canary Islands Government Council to raise the health alert in Lanzarote and La Graciosa to level 4 given the seriousness of the Covid contagion data, the mayor of Teguise, Oswaldo Betancort, demands that the Canary Islands Government urgently decree a battery of measures to accompany the determined health measures.
"We are talking about health, and no one disputes that, but I have missed measures to preserve the economic health of the families and businessmen of the island of Lanzarote and La Graciosa, who do not understand how after paying taxes and contributing so much to the economy of the archipelago thanks to tourism, they are not supported by the government when they need it most and when a crisis of incalculable dimensions has befallen us," said the mayor of Teguise. "Therefore, we do not understand why the health measures are not accompanied by urgent and real financial measures, with all the legal infrastructure at their disposal," he added.
"I know that we are all going to be able to lower this curve, but it is a fact that the sector is dilapidated and that there is great concern among citizens to know what the aid will be for the most vulnerable sectors, which have been suffering the consequences of the pandemic for almost a year," says Betancort, demanding answers about "where are the promised bonuses for businessmen".
"The Government of the Canary Islands has left the people of Lanzarote and La Graciosa alone, locked in phase 4 but without a real economic reactivation plan, and without a doubt, the most punished are precisely the islands of Lanzarote and La Graciosa, and in the case of my municipality, it is a fait accompli that the tourist town of Costa Teguise has hung the sign of total closure, with the loss of employment that this entails and with the dark future that its representatives and workers foresee if they do not receive help," lamented the mayor.
"We have a Canary Islands government that will surely close 2020 with a surplus, which has not materialized all the items and has cut 22% of the budget to local administrations, therefore, we believe that it is capable of taking real and immediate measures to reverse this hecatomb," Betancort considers.