Projects for the ecological transition

We are facing the worst predicament in our recent history, nothing less than a global crisis derived from the covid-19 pandemic and which is having very serious consequences on the society and economy of the islands of Lanzarote and La Graciosa. Fortunately, science has begun to offer answers to the coronavirus, so we can face the coming year with moderate optimism. Let's trust that tourism will return soon hand in hand with health security, which will allow us to address the reactivation of our islands with solid guarantees.

The guarantees for our reactivation are provided by the European Union, through the European Recovery Fund; the State, through the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan of the Spanish Economy; and the autonomous Government, with the Plan for the Social and Economic Reactivation of the Canary Islands - also called the Canary Islands Reactivation Plan. These guarantees allow us to design our own strategy in the Cabildo de Lanzarote, still unfinished, and which we internally call the Lanzarote Reactivation Plan.

The Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan of the Spanish Economy is structured around the four transformations that the Government of Pedro Sánchez has placed at the center of the economic strategy: the ecological transition, the digital transformation, gender equality and social and territorial cohesion. So far, we have made progress in the ecological transition, since the Government of the Canary Islands has created, ex professo, a virtual platform to collect all those projects that are likely to be eligible within the European Recovery Fund.

This initiative has allowed us to specify 217 applications in the Island Council within the axis of the ecological transition of the Government of the Canary Islands. Of these, about forty have a project drafted for a total amount of just over one hundred million euros, and that affect the different areas of the Cabildo, the Water Consortium and the EPEL-Art, Culture and Tourism Centers. Thus, at the rate set by the EU and the governments of Spain and the Canary Islands, in Lanzarote we join the major lines of work in the extraordinary response that is being put in place to recover well-being and give a long-term boost to the economy.

For the time being, we have already collected all those projects that are likely to be eligible in the field of ecological transition within these extraordinary funds. In addition to strengthening health and socio-health services, we are focusing on the need to preserve essential public services, maintain and recover employment, reactivate economic activity, care for the most vulnerable people, streamline administrative procedures and promote the Canary Islands Agenda for Sustainable Development. We have a lot to do and very intense months await us.

Ariagona González, national deputy of the PSOE and Minister of Industry and Energy of the Cabildo de Lanzarote.