Valterra residents of the 70 homes demand immediate deed delivery from the Cabildo

The Negotiating Table Association for the Rocar, Garavilla and Ojeda Housing denounces publicly the stagnation of the process to grant them the deeds for the 70 homes in the Valterra neighborhood, in Arrecife. This is a decades-long demand by fishing and working families who "have lived in, maintained, and paid for these houses their entire lives."

Despite the fact that in June 2022 Law 10/2022 was approved, with which the Social Institute of the Navy (ISM) transferred all the properties to the Cabildo of Lanzarote to regularize their ownership in favor of the residents, to this day they continue to wait for this to materialize. "How much longer do they plan to make the residents of Valterra wait?" they ask.

"We are not talking about a new issue or a recently initiated file, we are talking about a historic demand, known by all Administrations, which has been waiting for a definitive solution for decades," they state.

In this regard, the association demands that the Cabildo of Lanzarote fulfill what was agreed upon and finalize the process. "Three years have passed, residents have submitted letters, requested responses and files, and meanwhile, the Administration continues to talk about pending reports, studies, procedures, and legal matters," they point out.

"While the Cabildo waits, the residents grow old"

As they explain, the island government's action "acquires a dimension that goes far beyond any administrative file." "The residents of Valterra are not file numbers, but people, and some who initiated this demand have died without being able to see the ownership of their homes regularized," they point out.

Thus, they emphasize that the current Cabildo Government "has had enough time to understand the problem," as it "has had access to the documentation, the residents' demands, and the transfer procedure." "Therefore, it is insufficient to continue telling those affected about the existence of new difficulties, new reports, or studies, because governing does not consist of accumulating files, but of solving citizens' problems," they continue.

Furthermore, they emphasize that "the residents' patience is not a legal obligation and cannot be used as a substitute for a resolution because the residents have already waited too long while governments changed, reports were drafted, and files were processed."
 

State of conservation of the homes

In addition to demanding that the Cabildo grant the residents the deeds to their homes, the Mesa Negociadora Association for the Homes of Rocar, Garavilla, and Ojeda also warns about the state of housing maintenance because "while residents await a definitive solution, the homes continue to need attention."

"It is not reasonable for an Administration to assume ownership of properties and, at the same time, allow deterioration to advance while the legitimate parties await a solution," they state.

"Public spending priorities can and should be discussed, but when there are elderly people waiting for years for the regularization of their homes and homes that require maintenance, the island government must explain its priorities because for those who have waited a lifetime, their home is not propaganda, nor a budget item, nor an institutional photograph," they continue.

Therefore, the residents of Valterra demand the following from the Cabildo de Lanzarote:

• A public explanation, complete and documented, on the current situation of the 70 homes.
• The identification of all legal or administrative obstacles that, according to the Cabildo, prevent the completion of the transfers.
• The delivery of the files and documentation corresponding to the interested parties, within the legally established limits.
• An express resolution on the requests made by the residents.
• A concrete schedule for compliance.
• A certain date to begin the granting of property titles to those who have proven their rights.
• Effective measures to guarantee the maintenance and safety of the homes.
• And, if the Administration continues without resolving, the use of all legal avenues for the control and protection of the rights of those affected.

"The time has come for the island government group to understand that Valterra no longer needs more political speeches, but rather decisions, resolutions, documents, and deeds," they conclude.