Protection of the territory in the ORs: The case of the Canary Islands Land Law

Abstract

The protection of the territory in fragmented areas avoids exhausting the available land. But environmental conflicts have been permanent in the Canary Islands. This paper provides the vision from Political Science and Administration, in balance with the legal perspective, on the weaknesses and strengths that the current Canary Islands Land Law had in its processing, theoretical foundations and structure, accumulating a dozen modifications. The conclusions indicate insufficient consensus when organizing 21 laws on land and protected natural spaces, simplifying the planning plans and making actions on agricultural land more flexible, at the cost of softening the legality controls and turning the Plenary Sessions of the Town Councils into judge and party in their planning plans. The discretionary capacity of the islands and the autonomous communities over the municipalities was expanded, without regulating rustic land or tourist activity, or promoting participatory democracy.