The mayor of Arrecife, Astrid Pérez, considers the decision of the Cabildo of Lanzarote to initiate files for the declaration of Asset of Cultural Interest on several buildings on Calle Real to be “a mistake and a setback for the urban development of the city center”. “It will cause the paralysis of any project that is intended to be carried out in the surrounding buildings that are in its area of influence”, says the mayor, who will try to mobilize residents and businessmen against this decision.
To this end, she has called them to an “informative meeting” next Monday, April 4, at 6:30 p.m., in the assembly hall of the City Council, with a single item on the agenda: the situation of buildings with heritage character in the surroundings of Calle Real.
At that meeting, the "scope" of the decision of the Cabildo of Lanzarote will be reported, with the beginning of the BIC files of the old Oriental hotel, El Mercadillo and the building that housed the Tamaragua store. According to Pérez, this will mean the “paralysis of the works, and the application of precautionary measures that affect other buildings located in the area of influence of those three BICs.”
The mayor says that she hopes that “the voice of those truly affected will be heard: the inhabitants of Arrecife, its business sector and, consequently, that of all the residents of Arrecife who will suffer the consequences of a decision that will lead to a parenthesis in the improvement of the appearance of the central and popular Calle Real.”
In this regard, it should be remembered that since the file is initiated, the properties to be protected have the same protection as if the BIC had already been declared, but this does not prevent conservation, rehabilitation and restoration work from being carried out, nor interventions in the area of influence as long as they do not alter the physiognomy of the area.
In the letter sent to the residents to invite them to that meeting, the mayor maintains that Arrecife "will have to continue enduring all kinds of inconveniences while waiting for the deadlines for the resolution of the BIC files to be met.”
