La Laguna Council Votes to Request Housing Emergency

La Laguna's local council voted yesterday to ask the Canary Islands Government to consider declaring a housing emergency in the town. This request follows a recent housing law (Decree-Law 1/2024 from February 19) and would involve working with other local and island councils. The decision came from an approved change to proposals made by Unidas se puede and Drago Verdes Canarias. These parties, along with the local government (PSOE-CC), supported the move, while PP and Vox voted against it.

The approved plan also asks La Laguna's finance department to look into using measures from another housing law (Law 12/2023, May 24). These measures relate to taxes and identifying "stressed" housing areas, and the department would work with the urban planning and social welfare departments on this.

Other steps include setting up internal systems to prioritize help for people in vulnerable social situations, making sure they receive full support. The town will also get new programs to help these individuals, backed by enough funding.

The council also agreed to work with the Island Council and the Canary Islands Government to create a coordinated plan for helping homeless people. This plan aims to improve local resources and support the work of social organizations. Additionally, La Laguna will continue its efforts to start a "Housing First" program. This program, also in partnership with the Island Council and regional government, will help assess how these approaches affect homeless people locally.

In other news, the council unanimously approved a proposal from Drago, with a change suggested by the local government. This means they will continue writing a new local law to regulate tourism activities. The finance and tourism departments are already working on this.

This new law should include a sensible limit on the size of guided tour groups, with input from residents and the tourism industry. It also calls for a study into how tourism affects the daily lives of people living in La Laguna.

Furthermore, the council also gave provisional approval to a new set of rules for citizen participation. All parties supported this, except Vox, which abstained. This decision opens a period for the public to review the rules and submit any comments or objections.

Until now, La Laguna had been operating with old procedures based on tradition, with no updated rules since 1993. The City Council says these new regulations will give La Laguna a modern, stable system to encourage real and effective public involvement in local decisions.

Mayor Luis Yeray Gutiérrez called this a "decisive step to strengthen the democratic quality of the municipality." He stressed that the rules "were created through agreement and listening, and will help us develop new ways for the council and residents to work together, fostering a closer, more transparent, and shared relationship."

Fran Hernández, the Councilor for Citizen Participation, explained that the new rules introduce innovative ways for people to get involved, such as public initiatives, hearings, and consultations. He particularly highlighted the chance to introduce "participatory budgets." This means residents will be able to suggest and decide which town projects get funded. "Anyone will be able to contribute directly to the municipality's priorities," he said.