The conflict between the Canary Islands Government and the Cabildo of Lanzarote over the installation of renewables does not seem to have a short-term solution, and the Canary Executive has repeatedly avoided acknowledging the magnitude of the problem.
The Minister of Ecological Transition of the Canary Islands Government, Mariano H. Zapata (People's Party), intervened last Friday in the last commission of the year on Ecological Transition and Energy of the Canary Parliament to clarify the contradictions between the Canary Government and the Cabildo of Lanzarote regarding the Renewable Acceleration Zones planned for Lanzarote.
Mariano H. Zapata insisted in this last commission that the forecast is for these areas to occupy 3.75% of Lanzarote's territory, most of it to house photovoltaic energy. "The surface data were and remain correct," the councilor insisted in response to questions from the Socialist Group in the commission.
The counselor explained that "with Lanzarote, the error was identified regarding the graphic representation detected in the signed version of the maps." Following this, he assured that "all documentation has been reviewed and we worked with the island technicians to resolve this failure," which was due to "an error in the assembly, incorrect symbolism." For the moment, the file is awaiting the Cabildo of Lanzarote to appoint the two members of the monitoring commission. The Cabildo of Lanzarote has highlighted on different occasions that the timelines will be set by the island institution after denouncing "blatant errors" between what was agreed upon and what was finally published by the Canary Islands Executive.
From announcing a "consensual" protocol to disputes between administrations
Last July, councilor Mariano H. Zapata and the president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Oswaldo Betancort (Coalición Canaria), celebrated that the island of Lanzarote had been the first in the archipelago to sign a collaboration protocol to develop these Renewable Acceleration Zones. Both highlighted that this planning had been "agreed upon" by both administrations. However, contradictions between the institutions were not long in coming.
At the end of August, a resolution was published showing through different maps the areas of the island where renewables would be allowed and opening the door to installing solar panel fields in Lanzarote. In total, more than 3,100 hectares of the island, 3.75% of the territory, are planned in these maps. Although it would not be necessary to use so much territory, with 0.23% of the island, the decarbonization objectives set out in the 2030 agenda would already be met.
After four months, the rectification of the renewable energy maps has still not been published in the Official Gazette of the Canary Islands.
The published maps show the installation of renewables in dozens of towns on the island, such as Arrieta, Tahíche, Caleta de Caballo, Mácher, La Santa, or Playa Blanca.
Faced with this, the Minister of Territorial Planning and Territorial Policy of the Cabildo de Lanzarote, Jesús Machín Tavío (CC), assured in September that the maps published by the Government of the Canary Islands in the middle of summer were "a colossal error" and contradicted the version of the Government of the Canary Islands, which attributed said error "to a small map". Machín indicated then that the published maps did not correspond to those agreed upon by institutions and that there were areas of the island where renewables could not be installed.
PSOE calls to "end the soap opera" of the "failed" ZAR
Socialist deputy Marcos Bergaz asked Mariano H. Zapata for a joint explanation with Oswaldo Betancort to clarify what has happened with these maps. "It is unacceptable that months after the errors observed in the maps, there are more doubts than certainties, more confusion than shared clarification between both institutions with contradictory reactions and statements about their consequences," Bergaz stated.“While you, counselor, argue that the protocol is signed and the ZAR defined, agreed upon, and the file ready for integration into regional strategic energy planning, as you recently conveyed to me in parliament, the Cabildo says the protocol is invalid, brandishes maps that are not agreed upon, is null and void by law, and we must return to the beginning,” recalled the Lanzarote deputy.The socialist councilor informed the commission that he has tried to access the complete file of the Renewable Acceleration Zone since September but has not yet been provided with it.