The Yaiza City Council and ranchers from Uga sent a letter this Wednesday to the president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, María Dolores Corujo, requesting the adoption of measures "to revise upwards the rates for camel rides in the Montañas del Fuego."
This revision, according to the City Council, involves the prior and mandatory procedure of "convening the Board of Trustees of the Timanfaya National Park, which must study this request", whose objective is to "preserve an economic activity linked to tourism that has been severely punished by the pandemic and the increase in animal maintenance costs."
The mayor of Yaiza, Óscar Noda, recalls that "already in July of last year", the Yaiza Plenary approved an agreement "to urge the Cabildo to convene the Board of Trustees and the consequent revision of rates." "Two economic studies were then provided: one presented by the camel sector and the other by the City Council, which justify that the rate should be set at at least 20 euros per trip," says the mayor, who highlights that the current rate of 12 euros, which is only 6 euros per person, "has not been revised for thirteen years."
In the letter addressed to the Cabildo, Yaiza and the camel herders point out that the new director of the National Park "was appointed last October, so the main obstacle to making the call effective has been resolved."
The Yaiza City Council also recalls that on September 17, at the municipal distinction ceremony for the camel sector within the commemoration 'Yaiza Historical City', the mayor and the livestock representation claimed, once again, "the importance of reviewing the rates in order to ensure the survival of the sector, given that camel herders have recently suffered a new increase of more than 20 percent in the purchase price of feed."
"The pandemic has been a terrible burden for the camel sector, causing a drop in turnover and an increase in the maintenance costs of the service, plunging the forty families that depend on this sector into a precarious position and economic difficulties," says the mayor, who adds that for Yaiza and for the ranchers "the convening of the Board of Trustees is urgent and we are forwarding this request to the Cabildo because it has the powers in the figure of its Presidency."
