Unidos por Lanzarote, on Vázquez's explanations: "He wanted to have a spree in his town"

Unidos por Lanzarote (UPL) has branded the explanations of the CEO of the Centers for Art, Culture and Tourism, Ángel Vázquez (PP), as a "rip-off" regarding the trip to his Galician hometown of O Carballiño, allegedly funded with public money, as denounced by the party itself.

The political party has accused Vázquez of "making fun of the island" after the explanations offered by the head of the Centers about the trip to the festivals of his hometown and has insisted that this trip was "paid for by the CACT".

The newly created party has pointed out that in a statement from the Centers issued last Tuesday, Ángel Vázquez acknowledged that the promotion and dissemination of Lanzarote's gastronomy at the aforementioned festivals was carried out with "six kilos of potatoes —material for an omelet—, 6 kilos of cheese —one and a half cheeses— and 5 boxes of wine".

Unidos por Lanzarote denounces the "greatest impudence"

For the party, this is "one of the most impudent explanations in the history of Lanzarote's political shamelessness". "It sounds like they wanted to have a party in his town, in Galicia, and for the Centers to pay for it, they had to justify it in any way possible," Unidos por Lanzarote has stated.

Thus, they have added that "with a bag of six kilos of potatoes, one and a half cheeses —another six kilos— and a pitcher of wine —five boxes, although we don't know if the boxes were of three or six bottles—, practically no one could taste the island's gastronomy". The political party has assured that "Ángel alone eats the potatoes and cheese in one sitting".

Unidos por Lanzarote has asked "how many people accompanied the bag of potatoes, the one and a half cheeses, and the pitcher of wine that the counselor took to the festivals in his hometown in Galicia". They have also questioned whether for "such a feat" they stayed one day, two, or "if the presence of the counselor and his entourage was necessary for the entire week in O Carballiño".

The political party has also questioned how many plane tickets were paid for and what their cost was, in addition to hotel stays, and has also asked about the cost of the stand and where the company responsible for setting it up is from, as well as how many days it was open, if it brought staff, and where they came from.

How much money in per diems?

Laureano Álvarez, from Unidos por Lanzarote, has also asked what the allowances were that all the people who went from Lanzarote collected, including those of the manager of the Tourist Centers, as well as the detail of the Centers' Visa used by the counselor in Galicia from the 4th to the present date, to know the expenses that have been charged to the "Octopus party". "Did he invite anyone to eat?", they added.

In this regard, Álvarez has highlighted that they want to know "the cost of the presentation event of the Festa do Pulpo at the Castillo de San José: audiovisual costs, if any; food; flights", etc. "With all these expenses, we will be able to assess the promotion that was carried out with the bag of potatoes, the wine pisco, and the cheese," he insisted.

"We are sure that the CACT will make the real data public, especially the counselor's card account during his stay in Galicia," they added.

Unidos por Lanzarote questions that the economic contribution has been zero euros

Finally, Unidos por Lanzarote has reminded Vázquez that it is particularly striking that he assures that "Lanzarote's economic contribution to the event has been zero euros", when at no time in his press release does he explain how much public money the travel, accommodation, allowances, personnel, stand setup, transport of materials, or the rest of the expenses associated with the presence of the CACT in Galicia have cost.

"Vázquez confuses the cost of a gastronomic contribution with the cost of the operation. That the CACT has not directly paid a certain amount to the organization of the Festa do Pulpo does not mean that the trip, the stay, the stand, and all the expenses derived from the presence of a delegation from Lanzarote have been free," concluded Unidos por Lanzarote.