Much has been said these days about the Cueva de los Verdes dispute and its possible consequences, especially by those who have more reason to remain silent, as is the case of the spokesperson and only socialist councilor in the northern council.
First of all, it is worth remembering what is crucial in this matter, and that is that the debt that motivated this legal dispute no longer exists, that is, it is completely paid and, in addition, the fee to which Haría is entitled is paid regularly. This is what is truly important and the heart of the matter.
In the chapter of responsibilities, it is worth remembering that it was under the Presidency of the PSOE in the Cabildo of Lanzarote and under the direction of the same party in the Centers of Art, Culture and Tourism (CACT), when the first large global debt for municipal canon of more than 3 million euros originated, which I encountered as a councilor in 2003, a debt that we practically settled with Haría between that year and June 2007 – the date on which I left the aforementioned councilorship – as certified in its day by the economic director of the CACT.
In this sense, it should be noted that it was also during the Presidency of the PSOE in the Cabildo of Lanzarote and with Carlos Espino - at that time no less than secretary general of the Lanzarote socialists - the councilor responsible for the CACT when the debt of more than 2 million euros with Haría originated, for which the former mayor Pepe Torres, who until that moment had not made any claim, took the Cabildo to court. Just at the moment when I acceded to the Presidency of the corporation.
Therefore, it is false as some try to make believe and amplified by the mercenaries of the pen of always - who covered up and cover up everything above - that the Cabildo litigated pretending to keep the Cueva de los Verdes, when on the contrary all it has done is defend the unity of the Network and the viability of settling the debt, already paid, in some courts to which the Cabildo never went but in which it was denounced.
Of course, the Cabildo of Lanzarote will be respectful of the judicial sentence that may be, even when it does not take into account (like the previous one, which forced to return to Haría all the income of the last 10 years) several aspects that I consider important.
In the first place, that to obtain any income many management expenses must be made that would have to be deducted to determine the profit. Secondly, even when the sentence did not consider that, if many millions of euros had already been paid in fees, today it turns out that all those to which Haría was entitled are paid, and therefore they would also have to be deducted. And, thirdly, that even when the sentence did not consider that, deducted from the income all those management expenses and all the millions of euros paid in fees in those 10 years, the resulting profit should in any case be distributed, at least, between the City Council of Haría and the rest of Lanzarote, citizens whom I also represent, through the island council that made millionaire investments in its day that are not included in this calculation and that has exclusively assumed the responsibility of managing the CACT Network.
Of course, all that would be as much as to sentence that the Cabildo, and the rest of Lanzarote, would not have the right to anything, but they would have the obligation to assume, in addition to the multi-million initial investments, all the management expenses of 10 years, compared to Haría that would only have rights, specifically 100% of the income, and some fees added to those own income, which would be so grotesque that in the background, such conclusion is unthinkable.
As is known, the Cabildo has filed an appeal against the court's decision to reject the suspension of the hearing because a solution to this conflict is being negotiated with very good prospects, but, as the church has doctors, if this appeal does not prosper, and if the debt generated by that PSOE and denounced by the previous mayor had the incomprehensible consequence indicated above, even so, this Presidency would continue to bet on dialogue and consensus so that Haría guarantees through a non-existent agreement to this day, that it continues to be paid religiously as every time I have had government responsibilities, and never again accumulate debts in its favor in respect of the fee to which they are entitled. An agreement between the City Council of Haría and the Cabildo of Lanzarote that also establishes island commitments and guidelines for the gradual development of a municipality that renounced mass tourism development to bet on a more sustainable and nature-based one, something similar to what will have to be done with Tinajo.
That and no other is the purpose of the Mayor of Haría Marciano Acuña and my own with the Cueva de los Verdes, the Jameos del Agua, even the Mirador del Río although it is not located on municipal land.
Fortunately, and despite the permanent outbursts of some dissident, the current island leadership of the PSOE, as well as the group of councilors in the Cabildo that accompany CC and PIL in the government pact that I have the honor to preside over, allow me to harbor hopes that their commitment to agreement and negotiation - in which, by the way, they have declined to participate - is sincere and this time we will achieve that city council and cabildo seal the institutional peace that we need so much for the good of Haría and Lanzarote.
*Pedro M. San Ginés Gutiérrez, President of the Cabildo of Lanzarote