Ensuring mobility, energy, water, or the existence of appropriate facilities where cultural, educational, or leisure activities can be carried out, which register a large attendance, is a basic issue for the development of any society.
Reviewing our recent history, we find infrastructures that have had a very positive impact. Thus, the solution given to transportation between Sta. Cruz de Tenerife and La Laguna, by building a tram, was quite an achievement. In Gran Canaria, the road network surrounding the capital, tunnels, and some viaducts have significantly improved mobility. La Palma has tunnels and some viaducts. Fuerteventura has noticeably renovated its road network. Only Lanzarote is missing.
A joint transportation solution is urgently needed for the conurbation that begins in Costa Teguise, continues in Arrecife, Playa Honda, and ends in Puerto del Carmen; it is the area with the highest population and mobility on the island. It must be sustainable, with clean energy, such as a tram or similar.
Specifically, the connections of the Arrecife ring road with the main roads heading south, north, and center must be modified. They should be underground, not elevated like Scalextric, which are inappropriate for urban areas, just the opposite of how they are planned. The same must be done with the highway at Playa Honda, uniting the two areas now divided by the road. The gained surfaces would be for slow traffic and citizen enjoyment. There is already some citizen movement in this direction. The branch that connects the hospital roundabout with the airport is a patch. It consumes territory, which is a scarce resource, and is in a protected area.
Without wanting to enter the cultural area, it is worth mentioning the lack of an Island Auditorium, which we have been waiting for decades. Or in the educational field, highlight the lack of a University Campus that, almost 20 years after reaching an agreement with the university, seems to have fallen into oblivion. Not even the land has been ceded. We are pathetic.
Lanzarote is the non-capital island that contributes the most to the regional GDP, about 7.5% (ISTAC data 2021). It well deserves these investments. We are talking about a lot of money, but the construction of infrastructure has a good long-term return; in many ways, including quality of life. Let's take care of the island, not spoil its beauty - on the contrary, improve it - and we can continue to live off it.
Whether these investments are carried out depends on our political influence. We have, in addition to the regional parliamentarians that correspond to us, some from the regional list, the president of the Parliament, councilors in the government, and also national representatives. We have plenty of muscle.
But influence is worthless if it is not used. Our representatives must go to Tenerife or Madrid to do more than just make an appearance and raise their hands when told to. The key is for citizens to demand and pressure. I wonder, what happened to that combative society of the 70s and 80s of the last century, which bordered on utopia by asking to bury the electrical cables so as not to disfigure the landscape? Everyone get to work.
