The Socialist Party of Lanzarote has denounced this Tuesday the "scandalous waste of more than 5.3 million euros on parties and events" by the Society for the Promotion of Exterior of Lanzarote (SPEL) in the year 2024, under the mandate of Oswaldo Betancort.
From the Socialist Group they point out that "this figure reflects a management model totally removed from the real priorities of the island and based on "bread and circuses"".
“We are talking about an authentic waste of spending on parties, cocktails and shows without any type of control or serious evaluation of results. It is a shame. While the towns of Lanzarote run out of water, while hundreds of families cannot access housing, while La Graciosa is overwhelmed by the lack of planning, Mr. Betancort burns millions on fireworks,” denounced the socialist councilor Benjamín Perdomo.
The PSOE of Lanzarote accuses the president of the Cabildo of having converted the tourist promotion of the island "into a personal platform for self-promotion and propaganda, while completely ignoring the structural problems that drown the citizens". “With Betancort, the SPEL has ceased to be a useful instrument for the orderly and sustainable promotion of the destination and has become a party agency. There is no strategy, there is no rigor, there is no respect for public money. All there is is noise, smoke and absolute irresponsibility,” adds Perdomo.
The socialists denounce that "this model of unbridled spending diverts resources that could be used to improve public services and the well-being of the resident population". “They continue to perpetuate an exhausted tourism model and a management based on spectacle and excess, which has nothing to do with the reality that the island lives,” they say.
“A total of 5.3 million euros in parties while the island dries up, the protection of the territory is compromised by tourism without limits and families are suffocated by rental prices. That is the photo of the Lanzarote that Betancort leaves us,” concludes Perdomo.
