The Franz Weber Foundation stated on Monday morning that it has been waiting for 990 days for a response from the Yaiza City Council to the request for information about the well-known case of the camel calf beaten in July 2023 in Timanfaya National Park.
The naturalists recall that the Transparency Commissioner reprimanded the local Government in 2024 for the lack of responses, since, according to them, "he did not answer any of the questions raised in the document and also did not provide reliable data about the alleged sanction or actions against the people involved".
FFW issues this warning after "the speed shown by the Lanzarote council" to respond to the tens of thousands of signatures that ask to end camel rides (dromedaries) and a reconversion of this sector to generate more responsible and sustainable tourism.
Almost three years of lack of transparency
In June 2023 and after the dissemination of a video on social media where alleged workers treated a camel calf in a completely inappropriate manner, the council announced the opening of a sanctioning file.
Almost three years later there is no knowledge of the same and for that reason the Franz Weber Foundation first requested this information from the City Council and after not obtaining a response appealed to the Deputy of the Common.
Thus, the Defender of Canarian citizenship considered that the matter should be processed through the Commissioner for Transparency.
This Commissioner already warned at the time with possible administrative sanctions, and required the municipal Government “to indicate the competent body for the resolution of requests for access to public information and the person responsible for the competent unit of this public information”.
With this background, the international NGO considers that Yaiza has knowingly disobeyed the regulatory framework of transparency rules and the Commissioner's own warnings, for which reason its action should be declared as “obstructionist” and the mandatory sanctioning procedure should be initiated.
The Canarian regulations contemplate fines of up to 300,000 euros for infractions and the possibility of dismissing high-ranking officials.
"It has not been an isolated incident. In September 2024 a new video showed the fall of a camel with tourists on top, and how one of the visitors shouts at the animal after the event. Since then, complaints have multiplied inside and outside the Island, with a local administration that seems more inclined to protect the rides than to assume its responsibilities. As in the previous case, there is also no record that the Yaiza City Council initiated a file", they conclude.