The island secretary of the PSOE of Lanzarote and deputy in Congress, María Dolores Corujo, has demanded that the Cabildo of Lanzarote and the Government of the Canary Islands "immediately activate the mechanisms offered by the Housing Law of the Government of Spain to stop speculation and guarantee the right to decent housing". In particular, Corujo has called for the "declaration of stressed areas to limit rental prices, a measure that other communities have already adopted while Lanzarote continues without applying it".
“The housing access crisis in Lanzarote is not a problem of supply, but of speculation and lack of control of vacation rentals. The solution is not to authorize one more floor, as Oswaldo Betancort proposes, but to regulate the market and have the political courage to apply the Housing Law”, Corujo denounced.
Accuses the PSOE of turning the island into "an AirBnb park"
For the socialist leader, Betancort's proposal to "allow building one more floor in certain areas" of Arrecife is a “improvised and unplanned occurrence” that does not attack the root of the problem. “While the Cabildo tries to sell this idea as a great solution, the number of tourist homes in Lanzarote has grown by 78% since Betancort assumed the presidency”, Corujo pointed out.
“It is not serious that they now want to sell the closure of 120 vacation homes as a great achievement when the reality is that Lanzarote has become an Airbnb park without any effective regulation”, Corujo added.
From the PSOE of Lanzarote they insist that the only viable solution involves a serious housing policy that includes the declaration of stressed areas to limit rental prices, the promotion of a public park of affordable housing and the strict regulation of vacation rentals to stop its uncontrolled expansion.
“In the Basque Country they have demonstrated that with planning and courageous measures the right to housing can be guaranteed without resorting to wild urbanism. In Lanzarote, however, the Canarian Coalition and the Popular Party continue to bet on an unsustainable model that only benefits speculators”, he added.
The socialists ask for "more regulation and less cement"
Corujo recalled that the public housing that is currently being built in Lanzarote is "the result of the management of socialist governments, after decades of abandonment by the Canarian Coalition. Since 1988, no public housing had been built on the island until a socialist government once again placed Lanzarote on the map of public housing. Now, in the midst of a housing emergency, CC and PP continue without offering real solutions”, he stressed.
For the socialist leader, Betancort's commitment to continue building without control demonstrates that “they do not understand the island in which they govern”. “What will be next? Will we continue to increase the height of buildings every time there is a problem with access to housing? Lanzarote cannot support more improvisations. What needs to be done is to apply the Housing Law and take forceful measures against speculation. More regulation and less cement”, Corujo sentenced.
The PSOE of Lanzarote demands that the Cabildo and the Government of the Canary Islands, "instead of continuing to benefit developers and speculators, immediately activate the mechanisms of the Housing Law and stop the speculation that is expelling citizens from their own island".
