The Socialist Group in the Cabildo de Tenerife has called for public explanations on Thursday from the Insular President, Rosa Dávila (Canarian Coalition), regarding the “surprise” dismissal of the CEO of the Technological Institute of Renewable Energies (Iter), Begoña Ortiz. They question whether the president was aware of the damage to the Morra Meca site when she decided to terminate her. These damages have resulted in a penalty file of €305,000 for destroying 1,912 square metres of one of Arico’s most significant deposits using heavy machinery and earth movements.
The socialists remark that the dismissal occurred on January 30, 2025, without prior notification to the Iter Board of Directors, and the reason for the dismissal was not made public. The decision was taken directly by the General Shareholders’ Meeting, chaired by Rosa Dávila, who is the president of the Cabildo de Tenerife, according to the PSOE.
The party reminds us that the damage to the ethnographic site of Morra Meca in Arico occurred during the construction of the Fotobat 5+5 project, carried out by Iter in 2024.
According to the PSOE, the current authorisation, which was granted in the last legislative term, required a study relating to cultural interests nearby the installation, indicating the distance between them and the plant.
It also asserts that prior to commencing the works, the potential existence of heritage values in the area of action should have been assessed, with the necessary conservation measures anticipated, “which evidently has not been upheld.”
Both the Cabildo and the Canary Islands government acted only after a public complaint, highlighting a “serious lack of oversight” and application of the protocols designed to protect cultural heritage, the socialists assert.
Additionally, they note that Iter itself altered the design of the solar plant and decreased the number of panels to safeguard the part of the undamaged deposit, confirming that a situation had arisen and that the work was conducted without proper guarantees.
“We demand that the president clarify whether the removal of the Iter CEO is linked to the damage at the site, and if she was already aware of what transpired, to explain why she concealed it,” they state.
In the Plenary Innovation Commission held in February 2025, shortly after the dismissal, the socialist group in the Cabildo had already sought reasons for the “brilliant” dismissal of the CEO, receiving a response that “it was deemed appropriate to adopt a different approach in the fulfilment of that role.”
The spokesperson in the Cabildo, Aarón Afonso, emphasises that “the management of Iter, an island public entity, falls directly under the jurisdiction of Rosa Dávila as president of the Cabildo and Iter” and highlights that “serious mistakes are being made in the administration of both the Cabildo and Iter with an utter lack of transparency.”
“One cannot hold the past accountable while making choices in secrecy to address issues that arose during Mrs. Dávila’s tenure. The public deserves transparency, not diversion tactics,” the PSOE concluded.
The Cabildo has already declared that it will appeal the sanctioning dossier (with a fine of €304,500) and intends to request the Canary Islands government to initiate an internal inquiry to determine why the previous administration overlooked, according to the Cabildo’s account, the presence of an ethnographic site known as Morra Meca when it authorised the iter to establish a photovoltaic plant.
Concerning this issue, “something we want the Government to investigate has occurred,” remarked the president of Tenerife, as when the Ministry of Ecological Transition of the previous administration approved the installation of panels on that land in November 2021, it “neglected to acknowledge the existence of an ethnographic deposit in that vicinity.”
