Eight million euros of tourist tax revenue seem destined to be spent on acquiring the finca of Es Canons in Arta.
The town hall has been calling for this purchase for some years, as it would extend the Llevant Nature Park. But it is not the town hall which is proposing the purchase; it is the regional government.
Manolo Galán of PSOE, who took over as mayor of Arta in June, met President Armengol shortly afterwards. The Canons acquisition was discussed. In addition to the extension of the park, public ownership would enable the conversion of shelters on the finca. There are also some houses in Betlem and an old barracks which, courtesy of the owners, Cala Veya S.A., have been made available to the town hall over the years.
The attempt to acquire Canons goes back to 1999. There has been unanimous agreement for this among political parties in Arta ever since. In 2015, the town hall requested the starting of the procedure to buy the finca, which has been declared a natural area of special interest and is included in the Xarxa Natura 2000 network of protected areas and also in the Arta mountains' place of community interest.
The deadline for submitting proposals for the next round of funding with tourist tax revenue was yesterday. The government duly presented it. The final say on the acquisition will be that of the committee which supervises the tax spending. The president of the committee is the vice-president and tourism minister, Biel Barceló.