For some, it's a black spot in the middle of a luxury marina. For others, an example of struggle and resistance. That old construction that has endured a battle of more than 15 years against some of the entrepreneurs ...
For some, it's a black spot in the middle of a luxury marina. For others, an example of struggle and resistance. That old construction that has endured a battle of more than 15 years against some of the island's most powerful businessmen will undoubtedly have defenders and detractors, but what no one can deny is that it is a symbol, for better or for worse.
A symbol of those who wanted to stand up to cement. A symbol of the ecological awakening on the island. A symbol, even, of the evolution and transformation that Lanzarote has undergone in recent years.
Two decades ago, that house looked out to sea and was alone in the middle of an immaculate coast. Today, it is trapped between a shopping center and the back of several shops and stores in the port. For that reason, it could be seen as a stain on glamour and modernity, or as the last bastion of resistance.
There is not even a definitive ruling on the case yet, but the Medina family will have to hand over the homes this Friday. And while they do so, they will see how the hotels built around them in recent years continue to stand, often with illegal licenses.
The cases are different, it is true. The problem of the Medina family is not the legality or illegality of the house, but the lack of deeds to a property with more than a hundred years of history. And unfortunately, this lack of papers is not the first time that it has played against many families, who lose the rights to the houses that their parents, grandparents or great-grandparents inhabited, because in those times they did not even think of going to a Property Registry.
They have not been able to prove that they are the legitimate owners of these homes, and now they have to leave. They will continue battling in the courts, but for the moment the strong one has won again.
Berrugo's eviction serves for nostalgia, to look back, but also to look to the future. And it is clear that Lanzarote stopped living off the land and the sea a long time ago, and that agriculture and livestock will never again be the sources of sustenance for this island. And therefore, it is also clear that tourism is today our economic engine and it is necessary to take care of it and adapt the island to these needs. But for that, it is necessary for the people of Lanzarote themselves to decide how to do it.
Talking about the resistance of Berrugo is reminiscent of that clandestine group that fought against the invaders of the series "V". Those aliens who came to earth promising to improve the quality of life of all citizens, share their advances and their technology, but what they really wanted was to control the world and take over all its natural resources.
Lanzarote may have needed marinas or may still need the so-called complementary leisure offer, but that should not be decided by the same four businessmen as always, nor by mayors like the former mayor of Yaiza, José Francisco Reyes, who is already responding in the courts for his actions, and even confessed before the judge, although he later retracted, that he received money from several promoters linked to the granting of illegal licenses.
In recent years, development has been imposed by force and, in many cases, outside the law. While some, both businessmen and ordinary citizens with small properties on the coast or in rural areas, always found the no for an answer, others have always found the doors open. And almost always, they have been the same. The same ones who now complain about the "legal insecurity" of the island, when for a long time they have benefited from the decisions of mayors who were too "permissive" with some.
Now, about thirty lodging establishments have had their licenses annulled by the courts but, for the moment, those that were not stopped in time and were built, continue to have their doors open as if nothing had happened here. And it is that it is easy to tear down the house of the Medinas, the Levas or any other neighbor, but very difficult to tear down a good part of the island's lodging plant. Because although it has been imposed by the policy of fait accompli and with licenses that violated the law, now it would be unthinkable to tear down such a quantity of establishments.
However, at least it would be necessary to take the bull by the horns and demand the execution of some of those sentences, at least in the most egregious cases, but above all to establish once and for all some rules of the game that serve everyone. Because if the same old people, disguised as saviors and benefactors, are going to continue deciding the destiny of this island, the whole of Lanzarote should take to the streets and take over the resistance.