The island secretary of the PSOE in Lanzarote and Deputy in Congress, María Dolores Corujo, has demanded that the president of the Cabildo, Oswaldo Betancort (CC), take urgent measures in the face of the growing tourist saturation that affects Lanzarote and La Graciosa and increasingly increases the pressure on the territory in an unsustainable way.
The PSOE of Lanzarote recalls that this socialist measure already had the vote against the current President of the Cabildo, Oswaldo Betancort (CC) and has requested that he rectify and vote in favor of the implementation of a tourist co-responsibility tax that taxes overnight stays, allocating the income generated to the conservation of the natural and cultural heritage of the islands that the socialists will bring back to the Cabildo and the Parliament.
Corujo recalled that Lanzarote breaks records in tourist visits, "this 2024 we will approach 4 million visitors, a scandalous figure that clashes head-on with the reality experienced by many Lanzarote residents" and pointed out that "the growing tourist pressure we are experiencing is unsustainable and cannot continue to be managed without effective measures."
"Oswaldo Betancort cannot continue to look the other way while Lanzarote is collapsed and unprotected: the island cannot take it anymore. He already ignored a legal mechanism that allows stopping the growth on our island: the declaration of an island saturated with tourism, with a load study that we left him done. Betancort only has to act. Enough of the joke of 'not one more tourist, not one less tourist'. He has to assume his responsibility and live up to the circumstances," he says.
The deputy recalled that other tourist destinations, such as the Balearic Islands, have successfully implemented similar tax figures since 2000, achieving significant benefits for the protection of the environment and sustainable development. "Despite the attempts of the Popular Party to eliminate this tax, its re-establishment in 2016 has proven to be fundamental for investment in the integral water cycle and in the creation of public housing," said Corujo.
"In the Balearic Islands, which were experiencing a situation similar to ours in terms of the absence of planning and balance measures, the ecotax has served to improve the quality of life of its inhabitants." Corujo pointed out that it is not only a measure that is invested in the protection of the environment and basic resources such as the integral water cycle and housing, but also supports measures to promote employment and serves to finance research lines in sustainable tourism innovation." Lanzarote and La Graciosa are on the verge of collapse in essential resources such as water and housing. If we do not act now, the situation, which is already unsustainable, will become more difficult to reverse," he adds.
The PSOE recalls that they also proposed establishing a maximum number of visitors per day in La Graciosa, as an additional measure to reduce pressure on the territory. "Oswaldo Betancort must choose between defending the interests of employers or those of the local population. It is time to act with responsibility and a vision for the future," Corujo concluded.
