While the mayor of Arrecife tries to instill fear and sow doubts with the initiation of the declaration of three Assets of Cultural Interest (BIC) located on Calle Real, at the Cabildo of Lanzarote we are committed to exposing the truth. Therefore, we will not tire of repeating that interventions are not limited nor licenses suspended in the protection environments of the BIC.
“The owners of the BIC are not economically helpless”
It is very important to insist on the following: if an owner wants to renovate their house located in a protection environment without affecting the facade, they would not have to ask permission from the Heritage Service of the Cabildo. However, if they wanted to renovate the facade of a house located in a protection environment, they would have to ask permission. I am not talking about deadlines that are eternalized, since, currently, the Heritage Service is responding to requests in a few weeks.
Another truth. The owners of the BIC are not economically helpless, since the Cultural Heritage Law of 2019 regulates various public aids, such as preferential access to official credit. When these buildings are declared BIC, their owners may benefit from a series of tax advantages, such as an exemption from the Real Estate Tax or a tax deduction in the Income Tax return for individuals for the rehabilitation works they undertake in them.
“The three BIC are going to improve the public space in their surroundings”
Therefore, what should be demanded of the City Council and its mayor is that they stop scaring the owners of these houses and that, instead, they commit to complying with the Cultural Heritage Law. Complying with it means, for example, enabling aid to the owners that the Law establishes or having a Municipal Architectural Catalog that includes the heritage assets that deserve to be preserved in Arrecife.
Another idea that I would like to emphasize is that the declaration of the three BIC will improve the public space in their surroundings, since the City Council will have the obligation to demand quality materials in the streets and sidewalks. There is another aspect that, not because it is obvious, should be pointed out, and that is that the improvement of the urban quality of the environment of these buildings will play in favor of the value of the properties in the area.
Finally, I would like to remember that these interventions also require the removal of the wiring from the facades that so disfigure the properties, whether protected or not, and to guarantee the quality of the street furniture that is installed on public roads. So there is no need to fear the BIC, quite the opposite.
Ariagona González, National Deputy and Councilor for the Environment, Heritage, Industry and Energy of the Cabildo de Lanzarote
