The Arona City Council has proceeded to destroy two canoes in compliance with a court order. The two boats landed in Las Galletas in the first half of last year, so the legal jurisdiction corresponds to the municipality of Arona – in contrast to those that are rescued on the high seas, which are the responsibility of the State. Thus, the council began the pertinent judicial procedures for the destruction and disposal of the two canoes. Once the Court issued the order, the two vessels were demolished under the supervision of Local Police agents.
Fátima Lemes, mayor of Arona, stressed that “from the first moment we arrived at the Government, in the first week, I was already getting to know the state of the abandoned boat that arrived in Las Galletas in May 2023 to begin the procedures that had not been started for its destruction or its transfer to another port with the objective that bathers would not be harmed. “As it was judicial evidence that could not be removed or destroyed, what we did was move it to one side to avoid this inconvenience to bathers and users of Playa de las Galletas.”
“In this sense, there is also concern about this crisis that has persisted for so many years of receiving so many illegal immigrants in the municipality of Arona. Our first concern is the people, due to the state of their arrival, both through the Port of Los Cristianos for the most part, and those who arrive at Las Galletas,” said the first Aronera councilor, and then highlighted that “the Destruction of these canoes is one of the essential steps to get rid of this evidence, which also represents a not very pleasant sight and a reminder of the unfortunate fact that immigrants who arrive illegally are suffering. Therefore, it was an important objective and it has been achieved and we hope that we do not have to carry out this task on more occasions.”
For his part, Alexis Gómez, Councilor for Security of the Arona City Council, assured that “the first thing we did when we arrived at the Government Group was to transfer the situation of the cayucos to the judicial authority and, once the legal procedures have been resolved Today we have complied with the Court’s order. For this purpose, the Local Police of Arona and the municipal services were activated to dismantle, destroy and transfer the remains of the canoes that arrived in Las Galletas in the first half of last year, leaving the beach in its natural state.”
