The Socialist Group in the Cabildo of Lanzarote has presented a total amendment to the island budgets for 2025, denouncing that "Oswaldo Betancort has turned the public accounts into a smokescreen, without real solutions for the island's most urgent problems."
The socialist spokesperson in the Cabildo, Ariagona González, has pointed out that the Presidency Report, the document that marks the priorities of the budget, "doesn't even mention the water emergency, despite the fact that it was recently declared by Betancort himself."
“They accused us of being alarmist when we warned that their declaration of emergency was just a media spectacle. Today we confirm it: not a single mention in the Report and not a single euro allocated in the Cabildo's budget for water investments”, González criticized.
"Water emergency for show, but no money in the budgets", denounces the PSOE
The PSOE has denounced that the water crisis "is not reflected in the budget, neither in the Cabildo nor in the responsible organizations." Likewise, Ariagona González stated that “Betancort promised 13 million euros from the FDCAN and 21 million from the Water Consortium for water projects, but those funds are not reflected in the budgets. It is the same strategy as last year: eye-catching headlines, but zero management.”
In addition, she recalled that while water cuts affect thousands of people, the island government still hasn't started a single emergency work to improve the supply network. “We are faced with a government that declares emergencies for the photo and then doesn't lift a finger to solve them”, she stated.
A public transport that "only improves in Betancort's speeches"
The PSOE also denounces that the 2025 budget does not foresee improvements in public transport, despite promises to expand lines and frequencies. “The amount allocated for transport remains the same as in 2024, without any reinforcement. While people lose up to three hours a day to go to and from work, Betancort buys new buses for the concessionaire company without having put the award out to tender”, González lamented.
The socialist spokesperson has pointed out that “public transport in Lanzarote continues to be a chaos, with insufficient buses, constant delays and lack of planning”.
“The Cabildo is only concerned about the photo of the purchase of buses, but there is neither a plan nor a strategy to improve the service”, insisted the socialist spokesperson.
Waste management: Betancort recognizes the problem, but does not invest in solutions
In terms of waste, the PSOE warns that the budget does not contemplate real reinforcements for the collection service, despite the increase in population and tourist saturation.
“The responsible councilor admits that the waste collection system is overwhelmed, but instead of allocating resources to improve the service, the items are barely increased in ridiculous amounts”, González criticized.
In addition, she denounced the lack of a serious environmental strategy by the Cabildo: “They talk about sustainability, but they don't invest in recycling, water purification or control of discharges. Everything is pure smoke while the reality is that Lanzarote continues to accumulate garbage and unresolved environmental problems”.
“Budgets designed for propaganda, not to solve problems”
Ariagona González concluded her speech assuring that these budgets “are proof that Betancort's government has failed”.
“They do not solve the water crisis, they do not improve transport, they do not reinforce waste collection. These are accounts designed for propaganda, to sell smoke, while the island remains paralyzed”, she stated. Therefore, the PSOE demanded during the plenary session held on Thursday morning that the Cabildo withdraw these budgets and redo them from scratch, with real measures to face the island emergency. “Lanzarote needs urgent solutions, not another year lost due to Betancort's incompetence”, she concluded.
