The Socialist Group of the Cabildo of Lanzarote will ask that the Art, Culture and Tourism Centers of the Cabildo of Lanzarote "recover the funding allocated" to cultural, artistic and educational activities. They will do so through a motion that will be debated in the plenary session of next Friday and that will demand that the budget of the business entity be modified and that a budget item of one million euros be included in it for the development of cultural activities in coordination with the Culture Area of the Cabildo of Lanzarote.
The councilor and former head of the Culture area, Alberto Aguiar, recalled that "this measure was promoted for the first time during the last legislature", during the Presidency of María Dolores Corujo and that it was a "fundamental support for the cultural industry of the island and its local talent".
In this same sense, Aguiar pointed out that "after too many years in which the cultural activity of the Centers was developed independently of the Cabildo's own, during the past term coordination mechanisms were established that allowed synergies to be developed between the Culture Area of the Institution and the Centers themselves." Likewise, Aguiar added that "a further step was taken, by establishing a budget commitment, on an annual basis, which guaranteed that the Centers allocated part of their profits to finance artistic, cultural and educational projects, thus ensuring that part of the tourist benefits of the island had a direct impact on the society of Lanzarote, on its social fabric."
Aguiar has denounced that "precisely at a time when the Centers enjoy extraordinary economic health, generating millionaire profits, this year the one million euro item destined for the development of cultural activities has been eliminated, unjustifiably and inexplicably, from the budget of the Art, Culture and Tourism Centers."
"Perhaps it is necessary to remind Oswaldo Betancort that the Centers are not only tourist visit spaces with which to "make money", but that they are and should be spaces that promote Art and Culture in the island area and an impulse for the society of Lanzarote and Graciosa, because that is the spirit with which they were conceived", said the socialist councilor.
"The Art, Culture and Tourism Centers of the Cabildo of Lanzarote singularly distinguish Lanzarote as a tourist destination, play a very important role in the island's economy, generate stable and quality employment and, undoubtedly, have an accredited vocation in the promotion of culture on the island. It must continue to be so", concluded Aguiar.
