"I applied for a license years ago to be able to uproot old vines and plant new ones, and despite the time that has passed, many years, there is no response. Farmers, who can also apply for subsidies for the ...
"I applied for a license years ago to be able to uproot old vines and plant new ones, and despite the time that has passed, many years, there is no response. Farmers, who can also apply for subsidies for the restructuring of vineyards, cannot wait so long." These words were spoken by the former mayor of San Bartolomé, Miguel Martín, in July 2008. He complained about the wait that farmers had to endure, but he, at that time a councilor and former mayor of San Bartolomé, and president of the Regulatory Council of the Designation of Origin of Lanzarote Wine, had decided not to wait.
In fact, when he made these statements, he had already carried out important works on one of his farms, located in the Protected Area of La Geria, and had also already been reported by Seprona, in a procedure that has just ended in a sentence of one year and five months in prison.
In his case, it was not even a matter of "uprooting old vines". According to Seprona's complaint, Miguel Martín carried out excavations, clearing of volcanic rock and earthworks. In addition, he built a wall for which he had not even applied for a license and which, according to the sentence, did not respect the aesthetics of this protected natural landscape. In other words, he did what he thought was appropriate, while other farmers were not allowed to move a stone. In short, what many public officials on this island have done for decades in Lanzarote.
Some, even, continue to do so, judging by the seal that the Teguise City Council has had to order, in some works that were being carried out in La Graciosa. In this case, in addition, the name of the owner of the house is especially surprising. And it is that after her arrest in the "Unión" case, where she is charged with serious crimes, it is striking that the former mayor of Arrecife, María Isabel Déniz, started building a house on the shore of the Graciosa sea, without having all the permits.
According to the complaint filed by the Local Police, Déniz had applied for a license to rehabilitate a protected house, but what she did was demolish it, and start building a new one. And the question is: does she lack knowledge about urban planning regulations, despite her years as mayor, or does she have too much audacity?
In any case, her case is not an exception. There are many politicians who have asserted their particular right to "decent housing". Another of them was Dimas Martín himself. And it is that in addition to the list of crimes that he already has behind him, between convictions and charges in pending cases, the historical leader of the PIL could not resist building a house with a swimming pool, but without a municipal license or territorial qualification, on protected land in the municipality of Yaiza.
The owner of the house, of course, was his wife, also charged in the "Unión" case. And it is that Dimas, although the UCO, the Prosecutor's Office and Judge César Romero Parampacuatro do not believe it, is "insolvent", of course. Or at least, that is what he claimed in order not to return the money embezzled in the agro-industrial complex.
Fortunately, in recent years, the times of impunity seem to be coming to an end. It does not mean that corruption has been banished, but at least the time of the farmhouses and the impudence. And it is that in addition to the crimes that have been proven with different sentences against politicians such as Dimas Martín himself, the former mayor of Haría, Juan Ramírez, or the one of Yaiza, José Francisco Reyes, the intervention of Justice has also shown the impudence with which many acted even in minor issues, but that affected them directly.
In the case of this last sentence against Miguel Martín, as former mayor, and still a public official at that time, he knew perfectly well that he could not carry out these works on his farm. In fact, although in the trial he complained that he had applied for a license to the San Bartolomé City Council and had not received a response in four years, what is surprising and paradoxical is that he was the mayor at that time. What did he tell the neighbors while he was carrying out works without a license? Did he tell them to wait for the approval of the Special Plan of La Geria? Or that everyone should do what they wanted in the municipality, without waiting for permits or other cumbersome procedures?
Once again, what was put on the table in this trial is the way of acting that many politicians have had on this island. It is not about a wall, nor about some bathrooms in Los Dolores. It is about believing that someone can be above the law. That those who have the greatest obligation to know the rules, to respect them and to set an example, are the first to break them. And then, on top of that, they present themselves as victims.
