Yoné Caraballo sees "negligence" on the part of the Government of the Canary Islands and the Cabildo in the face of evictions in Lanzarote

"There are mechanisms to alleviate the situation, but what is lacking is political will on the part of the top leaders", stressed the deputy of Nueva Canarias

January 17 2024 (10:31 WET)
Yoné Caraballo
Yoné Caraballo

The deputy of Nueva Canarias (NC) for the islands of Lanzarote and La Graciosa, Yoné Caraballo, wanted to express his "discontent" at the evictions of people without housing alternatives that have been carried out these days in Lanzarote.

For the Canarian deputy, those responsible for the current situation in which the 75 adults and 24 minors evicted from the homes of Playa Blanca find themselves have names and surnames, "the governments of CC and PP both in the Canary Islands and in the Cabildo who have done nothing to prevent this situation from reaching the extreme of sleeping on the street."

From NC they emphasize that this situation was "foreseeable" since October 2023 when they already had "knowledge of the launch" of the eviction of the families. The same, with the collaboration of the Yaiza City Council, have requested "protection repeatedly" from the Department of Social Welfare of the Cabildo of Lanzarote and the Government of the Canary Islands "without response" from both institutions.

Caraballo sees in the attitude of the island and regional governments "a clear dereliction of duty by not planning a situation that was inevitably going to occur. Now the Minister of Social Welfare of the Cabildo, Marciano Acuña, patches with quick and unilateral solutions such as placing 7 minors and 15 adults in the Aula de la Naturaleza de Máquez knowing that the children are schooled and the parents work in Playa Blanca".

And it is that for the party this situation "is not isolated, but derives from the problem" in access to housing in Lanzarote. "We are not talking about families without work or without economic resources, we are talking about people who work in the hotels or restaurants on this island, but instead do not have housing", emphasizes Caraballo, who sees in access to this right the "main problem" of the island and that "is affecting all types of people with diverse income, age and nationalities."

In addition, for the deputy "this situation is aggravated by the non-existent social emergency housing that the island has, a resource that is planned for temporary emergency situations. Currently, Lanzarote is not prepared for this reality that, unfortunately, will occur more frequently as we have seen with the couple evicted these days in Arrecife".

The Canarian organization has emphasized these months the "importance of articulating housing policies" from all public administrations on the island. Thus, they have proposed that in the budgets of each city council "increase aid for rent and rehabilitation of homes"; that "tax incentives be given to owners" to encourage them to put unused houses for rent or for "construction of new housing"; that the municipalities where families allocate "more than 30% of their salary to pay rent and household expenses" be declared stressed areas; "stop the purchase of homes by non-resident foreigners" in the islands; or recently that in the 'General Plan of Arrecife' "limits be placed on the purchase of land" to build homes for tourist use.

"There are mechanisms to alleviate the situation, but what is lacking is political will on the part of the top leaders. An island is not managed on the basis of parties, because when these end the problems remain unresolved and affecting the people of Lanzarote", says Yoné Caraballo.

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