Photos: Sergio Betancort
The president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote and of the EPEL of the Centers for Art, Culture and Tourism (CACT), María Dolores Corujo, and the CEO of the same, Juan Félix Eugenio, continued this Wednesday their round of visits to the EPEL facilities, touring the CACT maintenance warehouse, the Cactus Garden, the Mirador del Río and the Jameos del Agua. In addition to gathering the opinions, suggestions and needs of the center managers and their workers, Corujo and Eugenio visited the ongoing works in the Jameos del Agua, where they claim to have confirmed that the Casa de los Volcanes is "devastated."
According to the Cabildo, these works, launched by the previous administration of the EPEL, "have completely dismantled the Casa de los Volcanes and partially the most emblematic cafeteria of Jameos, substantially modifying or eliminating the designs of César Manrique to create restaurant spaces that accommodate a greater number of people, neglecting the artistic and museum purpose of its creator."
In this regard, the institution states that the representation of the CACT workers, which was received by the president and the CEO, reiterated its rejection of the purpose and the manner in which these works have been carried out. "According to them, a betrayal of Manrique's memory and work," it is noted.
A commission together with the workers to supervise the works
After visiting the works, María Dolores Corujo expressed her "deep sadness" for the extent of the deterioration caused to the Casa de los Volcanes and the cafeteria area under construction. The president of the Cabildo expressed her agreement with a large part of the workers' diagnosis in a meeting with them and with the Heritage Service of the Cabildo.
In this meeting, she also committed to the future development of the works already underway being supervised and evaluated by a commission in which the CACT workers, who "until now had not been consulted about anything," are represented through the Works Council.
"The art, culture and tourism centers are not a restaurant, they cannot be approached as a mere business. César's [Manrique] purpose was artistic, museum-like and that purpose will be our main priority. I am deeply saddened by what they have done in the Casa de los Volcanes, an essential part of Jameos and of which nothing remains," declared María Dolores Corujo.
"The workers of the centers know where César put each plant, each stone," reflected the CEO of the CACT, Juan Félix Eugenio. "No one like them to be able to guide us in all the interventions that are carried out in the Centers," he added. The commission is scheduled to convene the first of its meetings next week.
