It is crushingly logical, and so it should be recognized, that the Arrecife City Council had the obligation to intervene in the maritime avenue of our city.
The visible deterioration of the same made it clear that a work of this magnitude could not be undertaken only by Arrecife, which meant requesting collaboration from the Island Council of Lanzarote, proposing as the most viable solution, that of the so-called "open commercial areas".
The bad luck that was had at the time of the award to the company that had to undertake the work is indisputable, although it is true that, in parallel, it meant the opening of the debate - and the subsequent administrative recognition - of the need to include improvements in the technical and economic criteria to be taken into account when awarding works, to prevent them from becoming simple public auctions and that the companies that were awarded in the near future, comply with what was agreed in that award.
Our city has been growing in a vertiginous way and, unfortunately, this growth has not come hand in hand with the growth in the services that Arrecife should offer. Within this maelstrom, it is essential to recognize that changes are usually difficult to assume, but also that for the good of the people who live here, and those who visit us, the growth of our Arrecife was essential, and that this growth would inevitably bring with it the consequent changes, was undoubted.
In its day, the idea of pedestrianizing the Avenue could be understood as a very drastic measure, in line with the majority of cities in our environment, but it is also true that changes should be made gradually, and that those controversial or unsuccessful decisions should be modified for the benefit of the citizens to the extent that the suitability or not of the same are contrasted, but always attending to technical criteria and not to improvisation.
Let's stop with clichés, and empty statements, more than making this city friendly, we must humanize it. A city has to be adapted for the life of its neighbors, it has to cover the needs of the people who inhabit it, because we are that, tenants of the same for more or less time, but tenants who must be comfortable in a habitat that should have the capacity to adapt to the different needs that arise.
In its day I understood that a Maritime Avenue like ours, which is the jewel of Arrecife, should be freed from the volume of traffic it supported, in a gradual way, namely, with traffic in one direction and entering through the Cabildo bridge and in the direction of the School of Fisheries. In addition, the idea of changing the direction of Jacinto Borges street would give the possibility of returning to the city center and the beginning of the Avenue along Manolo Millares Street and thus contribute to the much-needed decongestion of traffic. But it was only that, a proposal and, as such, it would have to be studied.
No one hides that the commercial activity of Arrecife is vital for the well-being of our neighbors and visitors, so it is essential to sit down and agree. The decongestion of the center largely involves the improvement of public transport, as a fundamental pillar of the reduction of road traffic and the recovery of public spaces that currently have their reason for being as irregular parking in the center, which would undoubtedly create improvement in our quality of life.
Arrecife is a city with many possibilities for growth, improving our accessibility from the north to the center and from the south to the port that is expanding, we will undoubtedly improve our capacity to continue attracting new investments that will come with the approval of the General Plan.
Arrecife is ours, and we are hers. Each and every one of the people who live in it have the duty and the obligation to contribute to improving it.
*José Montelongo Espinosa, former mayor of Arrecife.