Looking Forward
2015
2015 dawns with lots of promise in terms of tourism, Lanzarote’s
lifeblood, but the broader European picture is not as optimistic. It’s
going to be a year of elections, of special events and of renewal.
T
Paulino Rivero will leave the Canarian Presidency in May
he People Speak
2015 will be the year when the Canarian Government will find itself with a new
President, and new leaders could also take up the reins in Spain, the United
Kingdom and at your local town hall.
None of the elections that are scheduled for 2015 are certainties. On Lanzarote, local
Canarian nationalist parties will be hoping to profit from anger over the oil issues, while
Socialists will be keeping their fingers crossed that the two-party system is strong enough
to send their end of the see-saw upwards again. But there are still so many unknown
elements that only a fool would make a firm forecast.
In the UK General Election, the influence of UKIP could have a serious effect on policy, if
not at the polls. Current UK hostility towards EU immigration could herald measures that
may not mean good news for over a million British citizens in Spain who are EU
immigrants themselves.
Finally, the year will end with a Spanish General Election, in which the major parties could
receive a historic bloody nose from smaller parties outside of the rigid Spanish establishment.
O
Ironman Returns in May
port Outlook
S
Sports fans can look forward to the
Cricket World Cup in Australasia in
February, while rugby´s coming home
to England for it´s own World Cup in September
and football fans on Lanzarote will have plenty
of opportunity to enjoy the Copa America in
the summer.
On the island, there´ll be another Ironman and
Ironman 70.3 races, as well of dozens of other
athletic competitions that are rapidly becoming
institutions on this sporty island.
18
| January 2015 | The Gazette
il Outlook
Lanzarote´s newest tourist attraction
is an oil platform that is quite visible
on the horizon from most raised
parts of the island.
There will be no referendum of the Canarian
people, and it looks likely that none of the calls to
abandon drilling will be heeded.
Nevertheless, the chances of viable oil supplies
being found are
less than one in
five. And with oil
The Rowan Renaissance
cheaper than it
is currently drilling off
has been in
Canarian shores
years, perhaps
the best result for
Lanzarote anti-oil
campaigners
would be if the
project were
abandoned for
financial reasons.
Nevertheless,
even if Repsol
does pack up
and leave empty
handed, it will
leave behind islands that are now politically
polarized and embittered as never before. It is
highly likely that Spain´s ruling PP party and its
industry Minister José Manuel Soria - one of
whose first acts was to approve the drilling - will
reap the results of Madrid´s high-handedness in
this year’s elections.
One thing is for sure: while oil prices fall
globally the cost to the Canaries has been
much higher.