In the countryside and in the city, enough is enough with so much drought. Between the whims of nature and Canal Gestión, water is once again a problem for the countryside and an island that needs it like breathing. It is better not to mess with nature, because it is useless, especially in times of climate change. Canal's issue is another thing, because the revolution they promised seems to be turning into nothing.
I am not surprised that they are collecting signatures in Tinajo as a sign of protest, or that Town Halls such as San Bartolomé or Haría are crying out, and even that the Water Consortium is talking about sanctioning files for non-compliance with the contract signed by the company that manages the integral water cycle in Lanzarote. Nor am I surprised by the silence of Teguise, perhaps still conditioned by the praise that the previous president of the Cabildo, Pedro San Ginés, constantly dedicated to Canal.
We invite the mayor, from the Teguise municipal socialist group, to raise his voice, demanding a better service, because they can provide it, and at the same time to speed up the authorization of certain investments in water matters, which is another issue.
Complaints with Canal have been going on for a long time. They started affecting the agricultural water demanded by our heroes of the countryside and the refusals to provide new meters, as well as the insufficient pressure or supply cuts suffered by the lucky ones who already had one. Ask the farmers of the Vega de San José, who remind me of it in each of my races through the area!
And they continued, in times of quasi-zero tourism, with the difficulties affecting the water supply, with the saying "there is no water today" coming back, which forces us to resort to tanks, cisterns and the necessary hydro. A situation recently aggravated by a breakdown that affected a large part of the northern part of the island, Teguise knows this well, and the eternal and substantial losses of the distribution network, despite the "millionaire" investments promised.
The miracle of Canal Gestión is turning into the lamentations of numerous residents, the latest from Costa Teguise, who denounce the magic of turning air into invoiced water, in domestic consumption of hundreds of euros or in a liquid gold that disappears from the countryside like the rabbit from the hat. The figure of an interlocutor for the company, always necessary, has also disappeared, to explain to the public the details or difficulties that a strategic, vital service may be going through, especially on the island of volcanoes.
We have those and it seems that things will not improve, according to the voices that reach us from the "madriles", where the registered office of the sole shareholder of Canal Gestión is located: the company Canal Isabel II. There, surprised by different operations that the company carried out abroad, including in Lanzarote, they are now betting on a divestment plan of the company that would involve limiting its activity to the scope of the capital of Spain.
The most worrying thing is that the relationship that unites us is for thirty years, with more than twenty remaining at present. I hope I am wrong and the situation is redirected, but in view of the precedents I fear that the difficulties will continue in a relationship doomed to make decisions, no matter how much they told us in the past about an idyllic relationship.
While this is happening, Juan Luis, who could well be a farmer from La Villa, Nazaret or Tiagua, is waiting for it to rain coffee, and strong coffee, because the water and Canal issue seems more complicated.
Marcos Bergaz
