The PSOE accuses Betancort of lying about renewables: "No publication in the BOC confirms it"

The PSOE of Lanzarote has accused Oswaldo Betancort of "trying to sell" as a withdrawal of the Renewable Acceleration Zones what, in reality, "is nothing more than the concealment of the Grafcan viewer maps".

The general secretary of the PSOE of Lanzarote and deputy in Congress, María Dolores Corujo, has denounced that "nothing has changed". "There is no publication in the Official Gazette of the Canary Islands that confirms the official withdrawal of the ZAR in Lanzarote and La Graciosa. There is no resolution, there is no annulment, and there is no new guarantee for the territory. The only thing they have done is hide the maps," she stated.

Corujo has criticized that the president of the Cabildo "intends to turn into a political victory what only evidences a desperate attempt to cover up his own responsibility”. “Removing the Grafcan maps does not eliminate the threat to Lanzarote. It only hides it. Betancort believes that if the citizens do not see the maps, they will also forget who participated in this mapping and who endorsed this procedure,” she affirmed.

More than 3,100 hectares affected

The PSOE has recalled that the projected ZAR affect more than 3,100 hectares of Lanzarote and La Graciosa, generating "enormous social, environmental, and territorial concern" due to their impact on the landscape, rural land, and the island's model.

Corujo has recalled that Oswaldo Betancort "is not an external observer to this procedure, but an active part of it". “Betancort was part of this mapping. He endorsed it. He presented it as part of an institutional strategy together with the Government of the Canary Islands and now he tries to make us believe that he has nothing to do with the problem he himself helped to create,” she indicated.

For the PSOE, the latest communication from the Cabildo on the ZAR demonstrates once again the chaos, improvisation, and contradictions between administrations governed by the same parties, Coalición Canaria and Partido Popular.

Corujo has accused the president of the Cabildo of "using propaganda to try to cover up the disregard he has suffered within his own political space". "Betancort has spent months trying to disassociate himself from ZARs that his own Government of the Canary Islands was promoting and that he himself endorsed. Now he tries to be in the photo celebrating that they have hidden the maps, when the truth is that he has not achieved an official withdrawal, nor a publication in the BOC, nor a real guarantee for Lanzarote," the party stated.

The PSOE of Lanzarote has insisted that the island needs "renewable energies, but not in any way or by imposition." "We defend the energy transition, but with planning, with consensus, with respect for the landscape, with protection of agricultural land, and with real participation from the town councils and citizens. What we do not accept is that the climate emergency is used as an excuse to put thousands of hectares at the service of energy interests without sufficient guarantees," Corujo defended.