The situation generated by Covid-19 has plunged the island of Lanzarote into unprecedented circumstances in all our tourist history. Who was going to venture to the entire society of Lanzarote that we were going to suffer the pandemic that was coming, and, above all, what was going to be the scope and the unfortunate consequences that this cursed virus has brought and that is hitting us hard in the health, economic, social, labor and business fields. Impossible to have foreseen it at the beginning of this 2020, when Lanzarote was heading with determination, one more year, to continue taking firm steps in the promotion and consolidation of a quality, sustainable and unique destination in the world, due to its extraordinary and different attributes highly appreciated by all our markets.
Of course, it is true that this crisis far exceeds the insular, regional and state scope, as the effects of Covid-19 have blown up any forecast regarding the world tourism industry, but we must not stop acting and promoting as many measures and actions as are within our reach, from all the administrations involved, so that the island begins as soon as possible the way out towards tourism recovery.
Beyond the undoubted convenience of diversifying the insular productive fabric, for better or worse, unlike other insular and national destinations, reality imposes itself on us: at present Lanzarote depends almost entirely on Tourism, and now is the time to act and take measures to prevent the slow agony of our first and main productive economic engine: the local tourism industry and all the sectors associated with it.
The urgency of the situation requires the joint union and coordinated work of all the actors and sectors affected by this crisis to act without delay and forcefully, in order to take advantage of the opportunity offered by our climatic benevolence in the face of the imminent closure of other competing destinations in the cold months ahead. It is time to adopt realistic and effective responses that also contemplate the island's own characteristics as a destination.
I insist once again: for Lanzarote, receiving between 20,000 and 25,000 tourists per month would mean the salvation of the sector, and although we would be far from the buoyant situation of previous years, it would prevent the slow agony of a business and labor sector greatly affected by the crisis, while avoiding the collapse of our economy.
For six months, as soon as the pandemic broke out, on numerous occasions and in all forums, I have demanded the need to intensify diplomatic actions of all kinds that are necessary to proceed with the opening of safe sanitary corridors between some of our main tourist markets and the island of Lanzarote, as confirmed by the numerous and frequent meetings we hold with tour operators and the different Turespaña agencies in the main European capitals. Ireland, without going any further, is one of them, to give an example, although not the only one. This market, together with the British market, is a true lover of the island who misses us and has been waiting for the sanitary quarantine measures to be relaxed and the possibility of traveling to be facilitated, in order to visit us again and enjoy the island.
Each and every one of us must be aware, now more than ever, that the priority and most important objective is to generate confidence in our main tourist markets. But providing confidence and tranquility on the part of a destination does not mean in any way hanging the sign "Covid free", since unfortunately that is impossible until the vaccine is an accessible reality for the majority of the population or, at least, until treatments are found that prevent the mortality of the disease.
Generating confidence does imply offering all the guarantees within our reach so that anyone who comes to Lanzarote feels safe knowing that the destination acts quickly and effectively, with a first-rate health system like the one we have and with the establishment of all the optimal measures that can be applied and made available at this time.
I would like to remind you that from the first moment Lanzarote and La Graciosa were the only islands in which we implemented our own island action plan with a very rigorous protocol that is allowing us to effectively detect any possible contagion and act accordingly. But also, as I have been insisting for months, it is now urgent to start carrying out PCR tests at the destination for all tourists and travelers arriving on the island, both national and international, as an additional security measure, and ultimately, as a measure of a leading and consolidated destination such as Lanzarote.
At the time of writing this article, we are awaiting the meeting that the Tourism Ministers of the European Union will hold this coming Monday, September 28, in order to determine the protocol to be followed regarding the performance of PCRs - or another equally effective, faster, cheaper and less annoying test, provided that it is endorsed by the health authorities - for tourists entering and leaving the country. A key date that should put an end to the uncertainty and vagueness with which we are living, both destinations and the tourism sector, the upcoming start of the winter season. Many accommodation establishments are eagerly awaiting the implementation of forceful measures and the announcement of specific dates so as not to be forced, unfortunately, to close down immediately.
Throughout this crisis I have missed the establishment of a single and unique common regulation within the European Union regarding health measures for traveling between member countries, but sadly to this day I believe that it is still a failure of European inter-community policy, for which all countries should feel responsible, especially at a time like the present that requires extraordinary measures and common rules of the game in Europe, in order to emerge stronger together.
Even so, with all that has been said above, I insist that the best investment and promotion we can make at this time is in security that generates confidence in our tourists, so that all the measures that are promoted could fall on deaf ears if we do not continue in the line of drastically curbing the curve of the percentage level of infections that have occurred on the island since August.
The tourism industry has revealed all its vulnerability linked to an extremely changing terrain and subject daily to the unpredictable evolution of the pandemic and the success of the actions we carry out together.
Therefore, the need to toughen the sanctions is evident, but above all, citizen awareness and the individual commitment of the population of Lanzarote is absolutely essential, because right now we are all co-responsible for overcoming this health and economic crisis and it is essential to act with enormous responsibility to protect our health and that of other people.
However, it should be noted that the latest data on the epidemiological evolution on the island invite us to be moderately optimistic: fortunately the curve of infections in Lanzarote has been gradually decreasing and we have gone from more than 330 infections per hundred thousand inhabitants, which was the peak of the pandemic reached on September 9, to just over 95 cases registered per hundred thousand inhabitants, as of last Thursday, the 24th.
Although we are still far from the ratio established by the main issuing markets (50 infections per hundred thousand in the best of cases such as Germany), the decrease in the curve is an encouraging indicator, but it will be an indispensable condition to continue drastically reducing the figure in order to start the path to recovery as soon as possible and regain the confidence of our main tourism emitting countries, easing their restrictions towards our destination.
The harshness of the situation is not incompatible with maintaining hope, if we take the bull by the horns. In this sense, we have a business, professional and labor tourism sector, mature and full of good know-how, which collaborates with great responsibility, effort and common sense, as they have always demonstrated.
We have excellent health professionals, full of vocation, who spare no effort or time in tackling the disease and protecting us all. The population of Lanzarote has demonstrated its capacity to resist, to advance and adapt to the difficulties of a place as beautiful as it is inhospitable, a population that had to face adverse and sometimes very extreme conditions on an island that never made it easy for them.
However, history shows us that our past generations knew how to get ahead by overcoming obstacles, and opening paths and opportunities where initially there were only adversities. I have no doubt that we will do it again and that we will get ahead. But let's not fool ourselves: it will be as it has always been, with the responsibility and joint effort of all.
