The Parliament of the Canary Islands approved a PNL from CC to promote the gradual closure of the Pájara Maneuver and Shooting Range within a maximum period of five years. The initiative, which received support from all groups except PP and Vox, seeks to rectify a 'historical injustice' with Fuerteventura.
The Parliament of the Canary Islands took a firm step on Tuesday towards dismantling the National Maneuver and Shooting Range of Pájara, in Fuerteventura. A Non-Legislative Proposal (PNL) from the Canarian Nationalist Group (CCa) received the majority backing of the Chamber, with only the Popular Party and Vox opposing, to promote its gradual closure within a maximum period of five years.
Deputy Mario Cabrera was responsible for defending the initiative, which he described as an opportunity to correct "a historical injustice against the majorero people." "Fifty years ago, a part of Fuerteventura's territory was taken from it. Today this Parliament has the opportunity to start giving it back," he stated before the chamber.
A debt from Francoism with southern Fuerteventura
The proposal dates back to the removal of more than 4,200 hectares from the municipality of Pájara in the last years of Francoism, when the central government allocated that communal territory for military training purposes. As Cabrera explained, that decision was made "behind the back of the majorero people and without consulting the competent institutions."
Historically, that area had been used by the inhabitants of the southern part of the island for fishing and coastal livestock farming, in addition to housing an important set of archaeological remains. "Five decades of struggle have passed in which neither the majorero institutions nor its people have ceased to demand the recovery of this stolen space," the deputy emphasized.
For Cabrera, closing the shooting range "means much more than shutting down a military facility: it means returning to Fuerteventura a part of its territory, protecting one of the most valuable natural spaces in the Canary Islands, and rectifying a historical debt of the State with the majorero people."
A space of high natural and cultural value
The site where the Pájara CMT is located is surrounded by the Betancuria Rural Park, the Natural Monument of Montaña Cardón, and the Jandía Natural Park, all of which are part of an island declared a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 2009. This area is home to the largest known population of the Canarian evergreen oak, an exclusive endemic species of the islands, as well as tarajales, unique balos in Fuerteventura, and dozens of species of migratory birds.
The deputy insisted that "these infrastructures no longer respond to the reality of our time nor to the Canary Islands we want to build." In his view, the future of the islands lies in sustainability and territorial protection, so maintaining a shooting range "is a contradiction incompatible with the model of island we aspire to."
The PNL also appeals to the anti-militaristic nature of Canarian society, recalling the historical rejection of NATO membership, naval maneuvers, and the Malpaso military radar in El Hierro. "Canarias must project itself to the world as a space of peace and meeting between continents, not as a territory defined by the presence of military installations inherited from another era," Cabrera stated.
Next steps towards dismantling
The initiative proposes the creation of a working group with representatives from local institutions, the Government of the Canary Islands, and the Ministry of Defence to oversee the closure. It also requests the central government to repeal the decree that declared the Pájara CMT as an Area of Preferred Interest for Defence in 2012.
Once closed, the State is asked to provide a conversion and financing plan for the development of the future National Park of Arid Zones on the windward coast of Fuerteventura, aiming to protect the natural, ethnographic, and archaeological values of the site. Both the Pájara City Council and the Cabildo of Fuerteventura have supported unanimous motions in this legislature to prevent the expansion of the range and promote its definitive closure.
For the residents of Pájara and southern Fuerteventura, this decision represents a first real step towards the recovery of a territory they consider their own. Now, the ball is in the court of the Ministry of Defence, which will have to sit down to negotiate the timeline for the withdrawal of troops and the decontamination of the land.
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