SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 21 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Minister of Ecological Transition of the Government of the Canary Islands, José Antonio Valbuena, said this Wednesday that it is “impossible” to replicate the reconstruction model that was carried out on the island of Heimaey, in Iceland, after its volcanic eruption in 1973, with that of The Palm.
In response to a question from the Popular Group in a parliamentary committee about his trip to Iceland this summer, he commented that in that archipelago the ownership of the land belongs to the State, which makes concessions, and there is no protection criterion either.
He also commented that his economy was saved thanks to the fact that fishing activity could be maintained and in any case, he pointed out that in La Palma, at the end of July, the model for the reconstruction of the island was already agreed with the Cabildo, the three municipalities of the Aridane Valley and those affected.
The counselor has indicated, however, that the main objective of the trip was to see first-hand how geothermal energy is developed, given that Iceland is a “leading” country worldwide and they know “how to click” on the ground.
He has pointed out that as a result of this trip they are beginning to learn about drilling techniques — the Government has 90 million in the energy strategy — and now they have to figure out if one of the “problems” could be water, which is why in Lanzarote cannot take advantage of high enthalpy geothermal energy, something that La Palma and Tenerife do admit.
Valbuena has advanced that “there will be more trips to Iceland” to get to know this energy model better because “there is still a lot to work on”, and in the face of criticism from the popular people for the trip, he has clarified that it was not done “for pleasure”, the same as which he will do this week to Gran Canaria, La Palma or Madrid for reasons of work agenda.
Luz Reverón, president of the Popular Group, has questioned that the trip seemed like a “PSOE delegation” to which the Minister of Tourism, Yaiza Castilla, was not invited, despite the fact that the town of Vestmannaeyjar began to rebound thanks to the tourist attraction of the volcano.
He also criticized the fact that representatives of the Cabildo de La Palma and the three affected town councils were not invited and stressed that in the case of Iceland, 550 prefabricated houses were set up for those affected by the eruption.
On La Palma, on the other hand, there are still “many people staying in hotels” and those affected are mired “in uncertainty and limbo because they don’t know what the planning is.”
For Reveron, “it was not necessary to go to Iceland to start up geothermal energy and a plan for palm growers.”
