Ariagona González: “We are here because you have spent recklessly, replacing management with headlines and populism.”
Socialist councillor Ariagona González condemned in an extraordinary plenary session held on Tuesday that the Economic-Financial Plan (PEF) 2025-2026 approved by Oswaldo Betancort’s governing group “is the clearest proof of the disastrous economic management that is leading the Cabildo of Lanzarote to a loss of credibility and political capacity to make decisions.”
According to González, the origin of this adjustment plan lies in the deliberate non-compliance with the spending rule and budgetary stability, a result of the “president’s and his partners’ obsession with replacing management with headlines and good governance with waste.”
“We are here today because you have spent recklessly, funding all kinds of activities with public money and emptying the coffers of all citizens without improving their quality of life by even an inch,” the socialist councillor remarked.
González described it as “embarrassing” that such a significant document like the PEF incorrectly cites a public transparency law from Andalusia, which, in her words, demonstrates “the absolute lack of rigour with which this government addresses such serious matters as the institution’s accounts.”
“Those who mock others for preparing their interventions have been caught in a sad exercise of copy and paste with something as sensitive as island finances,” she added.
The socialist representative listed some episodes that, in her opinion, exemplify the drift of this government: the astronomical salary increase of the president upon taking office, exorbitant expenditure on parties and concerts, international trips of dubious usefulness to Texas, New York, or Iceland, and a consultancy contract of over three million euros that “has served to shield Betancort and silence opposition questions.”
“The most serious issue,” González added, “is that this plan effectively signifies a technical intervention: Finance and Intervention will have to supervise budget modifications because this government is untrustworthy in managing public money.”
The socialist councillor recalled that there are no structural causes to explain this deterioration of the accounts; rather, it is entirely due to the “reckless and non-compliant management” conducted by Oswaldo Betancort and his government partners.
“Those who ridicule the interventions of the opposition, even questioning the authorship of our speeches, today have been caught in a lamentable act of improvisation and shoddiness. This is not an anecdote: it is proof of the absolute lack of rigour with which Oswaldo Betancort governs,” González stated.
In her speech, González was unequivocal: “You received an institution with healthy accounts, with money in the coffers. Today, you have emptied it without improving the lives of citizens by even an inch. You have confused governing with squandering.”
“If you had a shred of dignity, you would have started this plenary session today by apologising to the citizens,” she concluded.
