The Unión Progreso y Democracia party presented on Tuesday night the candidates who will head the lists for the Arrecife City Council, the Cabildo of Lanzarote, and the Parliament of the Canary Islands, in an official event held in the island's capital. The opening of this event was in charge of the candidate for mayor of the Arrecife City Council, Jesús Cabrera Saavedra, who pointed out the optimism with which this "young political force" is presented for the upcoming elections. The candidacy for the Cabildo will be headed by Ignacio Prat, while the head of the list for Parliament by UPyD will be Ignacio Saénz de Santamaría.
"It is the necessary alternative that Arrecife must have to manage this City Council with transparency and honesty," said the candidate in his speech, where he also criticized "the apathy and neglect" with which both the PSOE and the PIL governed in this Consistory.
Jesús Cabrera detailed the various proposals included in the government program of his candidacy, focusing on ten immediate democratic regeneration initiatives for Arrecife. Among them, the "transparency in municipal management, a rigorous control in public contracting, promoting the economic dynamics of the island's capital, implementing new technologies in the neighborhoods, paying more attention and care to the elderly, promoting citizen participation, promoting the active participation of the groups of this city, developing policies that equalize the labor and remuneration conditions of the women of this capital" stand out.
For his part, the candidate for president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Ignacio Prat Fontana, stressed that the objectives of UPyD to the highest island corporation are "the objectives of the people, of the young, of the entrepreneurs, the professionals, of the marginalized, of the unemployed." "We will not be satisfied with the Tourist Centers not making a loss, our task will be to make them profitable and this will be reinvested in improvements to the island; we will develop a policy of recovery of Inalsa and we will put greater emphasis on developing renewable energies on our island," said Prat.
In this sense, he said that he intends to represent a large dissatisfied sector of the Lanzarote society. "It will be a great challenge that I take with great enthusiasm and encouragement," he said. In this act, the UPyD candidate for the Parliament of the Canary Islands, Ignacio Sáenz de Santamaría, also spoke, who greeted the dozens of people who attended this presentation.
The candidates
The candidate for Mayor of Arrecife for UPyD, Jesús Cabrera Saavedra, was born in Arrecife and currently resides in the capital's neighborhood of Argana Alta. He is the manager of a conejera company and this is his first foray into active political life. He has been linked for years to the cultural and murguero groups of the island's capital.
For his part, the candidate for the Cabildo, Ignacio Prat Fontana, was born in Catalonia, is a lawyer and has been residing in Lanzarote for more than 14 years. He is 46 years old and currently resides in Arrecife. For his part, the candidate for Parliament for UPyD, Ignacio Sáenz de Santamaría, was born in Oviedo (Asturias), is 48 years old, works in the hotel sector of this island, and currently resides in Playa Blanca.
