Bergaz Calls on Government to Mobilise Additional Resources for the “Water Crisis” in Lanzarote
This Tuesday, the Canary Parliament hosted the first plenary session of the political year, during which socialist MP Marcos Bergaz questioned the regional government’s Minister for Water, Manuel Miranda, about the activation of the additional provision number 64 of the Canary budget for 2025. This provision enables an increase in financial resources to address the water crisis affecting Lanzarote, among other islands.
According to the Socialist Group’s press release, this provision allows for an extra fifteen million euros to be allocated for hydraulic investments and improvements in water quality. It also enables the diversion of financial resources to support the water emergency through funding from “unforeseen revenues” or “savings” from other budget items.
The MP reminded attendees that this provision was included in the budgets for 2024 and 2025 as a “lifeline” aimed at rectifying the previously insufficient investments in water resources outlined in the initial Canary accounts. “It is urgent to activate this, especially as Lanzarote and La Graciosa have recently extended their water emergency for an additional six months via a decree from the Vice President of the Island Council of Waters of Lanzarote, stating that ‘the current situation is critical,’ as explicitly indicated in the resolution,” Bergaz emphasised.
“Furthermore, the water cuts that occurred this August,” continued the MP, “which were reported by the media with headlines such as ‘Lanzarote wakes up with eighteen villages without water, provoking the anger of its residents,’ or ‘Residents of sixteen villages in Lanzarote and La Graciosa awaken without water this Friday,’ validate the need for immediate mobilization of the financial resources allowed by this economic provision.”
In response, Minister Manuel Miranda acknowledged that this provision has yet to be activated. “We are waiting to see the status of budget execution for the application of the provision,” he said.
Addressing the Lanzarote MP, the minister remarked, “You say the situation is critical, and I cannot disagree with you; it has indeed been problematic, but we are taking the necessary measures. In fact, these significant issues seen in Lanzarote have ceased to exist in places like Fuerteventura.”
“Your response is that it has not been activated, even though the scenario is critical, and not just because the socialist group claims it, but because it is stated in the water emergency extension resolution from the Vice President of the Island Council of Waters of Lanzarote. Therefore, there is no time to waste,” Bergaz stressed in his rebuttal to the minister.
To conclude, Marcos Bergaz highlighted the considerable delays in the completion and commissioning of the new pipeline from Zonzamas to Arrieta. “This is yet another reason not to defer what can be done today, whether it involves ongoing works or activating the aforementioned provision and the financial resources it enables, as we cannot afford to lose any time,” concluded the MP for Lanzarote and La Graciosa.
