The words of respect and the genuinely democratic attitude shown by the socialist deputy Miguel González in his opinion article referring to me during the ten years that I have occupied a seat in ...
The words of respect and the genuinely democratic attitude shown by the socialist deputy Miguel González in his opinion article referring to me during the ten years that I have occupied a seat in the Lower House, beyond the gratitude that from these lines I want to express publicly on a personal level, are an example and without a doubt a lesson of what the public scenario should be in a consolidated democracy that aspires to its own maturity, where at the end of the day one ends up understanding that there are no enemies, but political adversaries who, when they believe in fair play, strengthen democratic institutions and ideological debate.
After having resigned from my seat as a deputy, Miguel has now become the only representative of Lanzarote in Congress and must have the full support of the entire island political class to push, all together, in what is the only valid direction for which it is worth overcoming the often biased island partisan approaches: the progress of Lanzarote.
There are unavoidable issues that require abandoning narrow-mindedness and looking beyond our own navel. The socialist parliamentarian himself already points to an example that has not been sufficiently understood in the island sphere. He is right when he assures that the issue of the Cochineal Transformation Center, understood as a matter of R&D&I, is a matter that "unfortunately in the institutions of Lanzarote has enjoyed little journey".
The implementation in Lanzarote of this center must be valued and understood in its true dimensions, since it is something of much more depth than a simple visitor center where curious tourists can visit this form of cultivation, or buy a carmine made in Lanzarote as a souvenir gift for their relatives.
The project is framed within what is called in the language of R&D&I a center of high technological value, which could turn Lanzarote into a focus of reference at the forefront of applied research, knowledge and innovation, opening behind it a wide horizon of unexpected possibilities for the island.
It is not, as I said at the beginning, a simple warehouse, but much more: it opens the possibilities of establishing research agreements with the main universities not only in the Canary Islands and Spain but also in Europe; it could mean the provision of state-of-the-art infrastructures for research at the highest level, equipped with the best prepared, most qualified and specialized personnel, the so-called brains of the work, and it could mean that the 18 euros per kilo of freshly harvested cochineal become one million euros after having put a lot of knowledge, a lot of research and a lot of innovation into the raw material to become much more than simply carminic acid. It could also mean the establishment on the island of a whole network of companies that have emerged in the heat of the cochineal transformation center, attracted by the achievement of extremely specialized products, unique in the world, in which only we are the best, and also whose weight, being very low, is in no way an obstacle for it to be transported from this insular and ultraperipheral piece of Europe.
A cutting-edge research center would mean, if we know clearly what the objective is, betting on the development of highly specialized and specific products, derived from cochineal, designed and prepared specifically for specific products, whose patents would be generated in and from Lanzarote. The new discoveries from R&D&I run like wildfire and their added value turns them into world reference patents demanded from all points of the planet, from China to the USA.
The objective, therefore, is to become the best. And if we also bet on the diversification of the island's economy, it is time to embark on new paths, without excluding tourism as the main economic engine of the island. It is not about replacing the current economic model, but about expanding and complementing it. Lanzarote does not have to renounce at any time a legitimate aspiration on the part of advanced societies, which is to be the first and to be the best through the most specialized and prepared workforce. In principle, about 1,300,000 euros have been allocated for this center. But this issue is far-reaching and requires much more investment. I know that Miguel González is aware of the importance of this project. And we must support him in this endeavor. With me, of course, you can count on it.