The PSOE of Lanzarote has denounced the "double discourse" of the president of the Cabildo, Oswaldo Betancort, in relation to the Renewable Energy Acceleration Zones (ZAR), "by maintaining completely opposite positions depending on the area in which he acts".
During the appearance requested by the Socialist Group in the plenary session last Tuesday, "it became evident that, while in Lanzarote the president casts doubts and tries to distance himself from the development of the ZARs, in the Parliament of the Canary Islands he voted in favor of Decree-Law 1/2026, a norm that facilitates its implementation by reducing environmental guarantees and allowing actions even not foreseen in the planning2."
The socialist spokesperson in the Cabildo, Ariagona González, was clear about it: “One cannot say one thing in Lanzarote and vote the opposite in the Canary Islands. One cannot change criteria according to the jacket one puts on”.
In this regard, González questioned whether Betancort's commitment to Lanzarote "depends on whether he acts as president of the Cabildo or as regional deputy," denouncing "a strategy based on feigning different positions depending on the context."
“Supporting one thing and the opposite at the same time is not managing, it is trying to look good with everyone. And in the end, Lanzarote ends up being harmed,” he assures.
The socialists warn that this attitude "not only shows a lack of coherence, but also generates uncertainty about the island's energy and territorial future. They recall that the protocol signed in July 2025 opened the door to the implementation of ZAR in more than 3,100 hectares of the island's territory, a volume they consider incompatible with an ordered and landscape-respecting model".
From the PSOE they defend that "Lanzarote has been an example in the development of renewable energies from the public sector, in an orderly manner and with planning. They recall that during the government of María Dolores Corujo key measures were promoted such as the San Bartolomé wind farm, the technical studies of the ITC to determine viable locations and the initiation of a specific planning instrument for the deployment of renewables in rural land".
Facing this, they criticize that the current governing group "has abandoned that work to replace it with improvised decisions and without a clear model".
Ariagona González warned that the model promoted by the current government opens the door to a disordered implementation of projects, with a direct impact on the territory, landscape, and identity of the island: “3,100 hectares are not a number. It is the future of Lanzarote that is at stake.”
Likewise, he pointed out that the "lack of planning and the abandonment of tools already started aggravate the risk that energy development remains in the hands of private interests, moving away from the public model that has characterized the island".
Despite the criticism, the socialist spokesperson extended a hand to the president of the Cabildo to redirect the situation and avoid irreversible damage, proposing to review the signed protocol and resume a planning ordered, with legal certainty, environmental evaluation and respect for the territory.
“We are in time to correct this error. If you decide to truly defend Lanzarote, you will have us by your side”.
González concluded that Lanzarote "needs coherence, leadership, and a clear project for the energy transition, and not a president who maintains one discourse on the island and a different one outside of it": “This island is above any political strategy. What is at stake is too important.”
