He La Oliva Town HallFuerteventura, launched a hoax against the Irene Montero, MEP of PodemosThe municipal corporation, governed by the Canarian Coalition, issued a statement this Wednesday, also published on social networks, in which it denounces the ”inappropriate use of protected natural elements” by the former minister, from a photo published on Instagram of “painted and damaged stones that appear to come from the island”. La Oliva suggests that Montero collected these stones on the beaches of Majorera during his holidays to transform them into “decorative elements”, in contradiction with the regulations on the protection of natural heritage.
The former Minister of Equality denied this statement on Thursday on her Instagram account. “I only have good things to say about Fuerteventura, but this publication from the City Council of La Oliva is a lie and a shame,” he began. “Having the possibility of confirming the information, they preferred to launch a hoax from their official accounts saying that I had damaged the natural heritage of the island by painting colored stones. If he is lying, there is something left,” Montero added. “The City Council of La Oliva and its mayor, Isaí Blanco, of the Canarian Coalition, must remedy this,” he concluded.
From the press office of the MEP, it is specified that the publication used by the City Council dates from two weeks ago, before the former minister’s trip to Fuerteventura. Montero also assures that she went to the island with her friends and not with her children, who painted the stones for which La Oliva pointed out to her. “You can and should practice family activities without harming the natural heritage. But in Fuerteventura, I was with my friends, not with my family. “Cutres”, he says.
In the statement sent by the City Council, the local government “regrets that public figures like Montero are the ones who carry out this type of action and, in addition, publish them on social networks.” According to the municipal corporation, these acts generate a “domino effect.” “We urge the former minister to clarify the origin of the objects presented and to publicly rectify if they were stolen from our beaches,” they say.
”Fuerteventura is characterised by its unspoilt beaches and unique landscapes, whose conservation has been possible thanks to the commitment of the local community to protect our natural environment. “Acts such as the theft of stones and shells for decorative purposes go against the collective effort to preserve the island,” the mayor said in the statement.
Asked about a possible rectification by the City Council, the Councillor for Tourism and Environment, David Fajardo, insists that the local government has not declared that the stones came from Fuerteventura. ”The message we want to convey is that natural stones stolen from the public domain cannot be used for this purpose. Should the administration rectify the situation when it tries to tackle this problem? They took them from a natural source. They are not stones from an authorised quarry. Where do they come from? The law has national scope,” he stresses.
The Tourism Councilor warns that in La Oliva, and in Fuerteventura in general, there is a “serious problem of looting, theft and alteration” of all types of natural elements such as cliffs or callaos. “They are seized at the airport as best they can, but there are tons of them.” All this is due to reckless publications like this one,” he emphasizes. Fajardo defends that the City Council also publish its sanctions and complaints against “lesser known” offenders.
Montero took advantage of the controversy to defend on his Instagram the urgency of “fighting against tourism and urban speculation”. “This is what is endangering the territory and the lives of the Canarians”, he said. “These are not problems that fall from the sky, they have political leaders. Here, there is the Canarian Coalition, which grants licenses to illegal hotels like the Papagayo Arena and uses the institutions to facilitate tourist projects that harm the territory, like the Puertito de Adeje”, concluded the MEP.
