"There has been an uncomfortable situation because we had a government pact in which there was a prior commitment in which the containment of beds in Lanzarote prevailed and in which the complementary leisure offer was reflected separately." This is how the Councilor for Territorial Policy of the Cabildo, Carlos Espino, expressed himself after a meeting of more than three hours of the Insular Executive Commission of the Socialist Party, in which they tried to find a way out of the alley of the Special Territorial Plan, which has not only confronted them with their partners in the Cabildo Government Group, but has also created conflicting positions within the socialist ranks themselves.
In this regard, the councilor stressed that the position of the PSOE in the Cabildo is clear and focuses on "not losing sight of the fact that the Special Territorial Plan will declassify more than 25,000 beds." Espino also stressed that the commitment to approve the PTE is not from the PSOE because according to him, "from the beginning it has been a plan promoted by all the people of Lanzarote".
In this way, the councilor reflected that within the island Government there is no danger of a breakdown of the pact. The PSOE, through Carlos Espino, made it clear that there will be no more fissures because the tripartite "will be able to make an effort of unanimity", even to include a preamble in the PTE in which reference is made to the complementary leisure offer. Regarding what the PSOE is willing to give for the rapid approval of the plan, Espino stated that they are going to make "an exercise of conviction in the Cabildo so that the PTE comes out as soon as possible".
But the immediate approval of the PTE is a very difficult task not only because the inclusion or not of the complementary leisure offer is debated, but also because it will have to go through controls and assessments such as the Law on environmental effects, recently approved. However, Carlos Espino affirms that there is no reason to delay the approval process of the PTE since it "is not subject to impact assessment because the purpose of the Plan is to reduce that environmental effect with the declassification of more than 25,000 beds and because it is still maintained that the complementary offer must be made on already classified land". This conclusion, according to the councilor, comes from the fact that said environmental effect assessment would only affect the plan, precisely, if the forecast of classifying more land were included.
Precisely for that reason, Espino stands by his position of not including the complementary leisure offer in the PTE, as requested by his government partners and the mayors, including the socialist and mayor of Tías, José Juan Cruz. In principle, and although the councilor did not want to confirm it, they could be willing to accept that a reference is made to this issue but in the preamble of the Territorial Plan, stating the will to address urgently the issue of the complementary leisure offer that the island needs. Something that Espino intends to be carried out in an independent document, "without colonizing rustic land" and "under the tutelage of the Government of the Canary Islands".
The municipal proposals
But in addition, the Cabildo will have to take into account the municipal proposals for the complementary offer. On this issue, Carlos Espino advocates for understanding, which will also be given with the only mayor that the PSOE has in Lanzarote. The first mayor of Tías, José Juan Cruz, was in the island commission on Thursday where they also talked about the needs for creation of leisure offer in the municipality. "I understand perfectly the urgency to include the complementary offer in Tías", Espino pointed out, also emphasizing that this offer "can only be installed on urban land".
Another municipality that poses problems is Costa Teguise, where the company Algol owns 85% of the building land. The Councilor for Territorial Policy denies having full knowledge of the tourist plans of Teguise "much less having signed any agreement". The only thing that the PSOE assures to have done as a party is "to put the conditions in Teguise so that the agreement it maintains with Algol adjusts to the PTE and to the current regulatory framework of the PIOT". And for his part, Espino, from the Ministry he directs, states that "the problem in Costa Teguise will come when it comes to colonizing new pieces of land".
Regarding the agreed steps in the Government Group of the Cabildo, which is also trying to find a way out of this crisis that the PTE has opened, an agenda of upcoming meetings has already been set, and it is also planned that the drafter of the Plan, Fernando Prats, will begin a round of meetings with the councilors of the Government Group, with those of the opposition and with social and environmental groups, to explain the content of this document and try to bring positions closer. In addition, it has also been agreed that the text be taken to the Council of the Biosphere Reserve for its analysis, as requested by a large number of associations on the island.
