Those of us who admire Lanzarote in its essence, a land of calm and singular beauty, watch with concern how the island is losing, as the years go by, part of its charm and authenticity. Playa Blanca is, without a doubt, the most paradigmatic example. We feel the constant doubt of whether this has definitively gotten out of hand.
We miss more and more that quiet walk in a special environment or that swim in clean waters and seabed. Gradually, we see how roads or hospitals begin to fill up. It is not strange to find out that access to Famara collapses or that beaches like Jablillo or Playa Chica are closed due to e-coli, an evident symptom of the inability to purify wastewater, or that they are losing their marine biodiversity.
Not to insist on the already structural problem in the water supply in different places on the island and in the social emergency in areas such as housing, which are already quite pressing.
Unfortunately, the urban and tourist growth of the last decades did not bring a tangible improvement in well-being for most of the residents, neither in terms of a higher quality of life nor in terms of a better income level.
By comparison with the capital islands, we see very clearly the dangers of massification. However, in the same way, we perceive that inertia leads us inexorably, although at a slower speed, to the same destination.
Escaping from that undesirable scenario involves fulfilling two premises, as obvious as they are complex: that the population does not grow excessively, for such a limited territory, and that tourism remains at controlled levels.
If we abstracted ourselves from the difficulty of controlling these variables, the reasoning would be simple: it would be enough to put a figure on the number of residents and tourists that the island can assume and act accordingly. The so uncomfortable carrying capacity. A key dilemma that, however complex, needs to be addressed and that should be away from the political arena, by an elementary principle of coexistence.
In the 90s, Lanzarote was a pioneer in limiting the growth of hotel places to protect its territory. Currently, it is urgent to do so also with vacation homes, preserving the housing market for residents and putting a stop to this new gateway to tourist massification.
The problem of residential housing cannot be solved with the massive construction of houses, a slow solution that would also open the tap of population excess. Favoring the conversion of degraded tourist complexes into homes and the return of vacation homes to the residential market seem appropriate ways to try to reverse the vicious circle of the loss of rental housing for residents.
A local regulation of vacation homes, restrictive in population centers, and an ecotax that finances, among other things, a powerful tourist inspection structure would also be necessary steps for this.
Responsible planning and political consensus are more necessary than ever to successfully address these pressing challenges. That the problems are complex and difficult to tackle does not imply that by not facing them they will be solved on their own.
We have the alternative of continuing with our eyes covered, walking towards the precipice, or that of at least making the effort to try to write our own destiny.
