In an absent, silent, and lacking hemicycle of the frenetic activity of the plenaries, the moments and debates lived resonate within me. Great speakers, great politicians? The recently deceased Vicente Álvarez Areces (PSOE), Luis Aznar (PP), Javier Arenas (PP), Jokin Bildarratz (PNV), Juan María Vázquez (PSOE), José Manuel Barreiro (PP), or Ester Muñoz (PP) are just some of the many senators from whom I learned because there is an extraordinary parliamentary level there. Without intending to stir controversy, perhaps greater than in the Congress of Deputies.
I also remember difficult, very complicated situations, such as the application of 155 in Catalonia, but without a doubt, what I am left with are the conquered challenges; the achievements of Lanzarote and La Graciosa in the Senate.
Some may wonder how Joel Delgado, a 29-year-old boy, with average studies, currently a university student, moving steadily but slowly, and from Árgana Alta, has been able to reach the Senate. Maybe, perhaps unconsciously, I fulfilled my promise to a high school teacher to whom, during a visit to the Congress of Deputies, I said "teacher, one day I will work here, in the General Courts"... but the answer is easier than it seems. With your vote, you made it possible for me to be the representative of Lanzarote and La Graciosa in the Senate. You and my love for these islands. My desire and my hope, which I have not lost despite the adversities, to contribute my grain of sand to improve, advance, and grow together.
I remember my first day in the Chamber on July 4, 2016. I was nervous as jelly and very eager to arrive at the house of national sovereignty, but above all, very sure of the work I could offer to improve my country, but fundamentally to improve my land, Lanzarote and La Graciosa.
The first great fight, the Port of Los Mármoles. We won. Lanzarote won for the first time in a long time. In the first six months, we obtained the 22 million euros that have just been awarded for the southern closure of Los Mármoles. Did I do it alone? No. The Chamber of Commerce, its team, and its president accompanied me to every meeting with the Minister of Development and with the president of State Ports. Several meetings were necessary to counteract the desires of the previous president of the Port Authority of Las Palmas, who wanted to prioritize other investments over those of Lanzarote, but he couldn't... We won, and now that work is about to begin.
The second battle fought was to firmly commit to defending scientific studies for the conservation of cetaceans in the waters of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, through a motion in which the PSOE abstained.
Another great war that continues to this day is with AENA, but even so, and after speaking with the president of this mixed company, Mr. Jaime García-Legaz, we obtained 12 million euros that have been executed, remodeling of the walkway of the fingers, improvements in the aircraft parking platform, bike lane, change of the air conditioning system throughout the airport, and asphalt of interior streets. It is evident that there is still much to be done at the airport, among other things, and as I have presented in the Senate, the recovery of the original designs of the César Manrique terminals, which were wonderful and we must recover to continue making a difference from the very entrance to the island.
In the 2018 budgets, the last of Rajoy, we managed to incorporate 700,000 euros for the rehabilitation of the Castle of Santa Barbara and prevent an amendment from the Podemos group from "stealing" 70,000 euros from the conservation agreement of the Cactus Garden. I will be eternally grateful to the journalist from the island who called me to warn us.
Another need addressed in these two and a half years was the creation of the Penitentiary Surveillance Court for Lanzarote, which was approved unanimously, after a motion presented by us.
A beautiful and exciting challenge was the motion to declare La Graciosa as the Eighth Island and the impulse that the Senate of Spain gave it to incorporate it into the Statute of Autonomy. Never before had the Senate been so close to La Graciosa and the people of La Graciosa, the true protagonists of this process. A separate chapter is the great repercussion that this fact had in the national media and the strong advertising impact that it also caused outside our borders.
If I had to choose a sad moment, I would say the defense of the motion on the drama of irregular immigration and the quality of the SIVE services, something that also occupied and worried us in the Upper House, demanding greater resources from the Sánchez Government to attend to the more than 760 immigrants who arrived on our coasts in 2018.
The brevity of this legislature has also left several initiatives on the table that, although registered, will not be able to be debated but that I hope can be resumed in the future. The first of these is the complementary financing for La Geria, from areas such as Tourism or Ecological Transition, since the Government of the Canary Islands DOES NOT comply with Lanzarote in terms of the distribution of the POSEI; the creation of the Contentious-Administrative Court; that artisanal salt flats be considered an agri-food activity, not mining, so that they can benefit from EU aid programs and rehabilitate our cultural heritage. And something very important that we also worked on with the General Directorate of Transport of the Government of Spain, such as the inclusion of the Lanzarote - Cádiz maritime connection in the tender with up to 40 points, knowing that the final objective is the Obligation of Public Service of the line itself, and that is something that must be insisted on.
The last initiative registered has been precisely to fight for the more than 40 residents of La Graciosa who are litigating with the General Directorate of Heritage of the Ministry of Finance for the land supposedly invaded by the State, something we do not agree with because it is based on a poorly practiced demarcation in 2006. It's a pity that there hasn't been time for debate, although I believe the next senator should do it from the beginning of the legislature.
We counted more than 100 written questions in these two and a half years on issues and problems that directly affected Lanzarote, in addition to all the collaborations we have done with the Cabildo or with the municipalities of Tías, Haría, Teguise, and Yaiza, which are the ones that at some point have turned to me to expedite files or know their status.
All this in two years and 3 months... I may be accused of many things, but it will be difficult to accuse me of not working and not bringing investments.
I want to tell you that it has been an honor and an enormous pride to represent you in the Senate, something for which I will always be grateful and indebted to these two islands that have the same path; ADVANCE.
That said, thank you.
Joel Delgado, senator for Lanzarote and La Graciosa of the XII Legislature.
