GREEN 'THREE KINGS' LOBBY REGIONAL GOVERNMENT OVER ENVIRONMENT

Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tuesday January 5 2010

THREE KINGS PLUS ONE: Ben Magec spokesman for Tenerife Fran Castro (right) and fellow activists outside the Canarian Parliament

ENVIRONMENTALIST campaigners Ben Magec demonstrated outside the Canarian Parliament in Santa Cruz on Tuesday – dressed as the Three Kings of Orient.

by JAMES TWEEDIE

The group was protesting on the eve of Reyes, the traditional Spanish Christmas gift-giving celebration associated with the arrival of the three kings in Bethlehem, against regional government policies.

These included the planned completion of the Anillo Insular motorway ring and the Anillo Ferruvial railway for Tenerife and the removal of several native species from the endangered list.

The group, led by Tenerife spokesman Fran Castro, also called for new farming policies to make the import-dependant archipelago self-sufficient in terms of food production.

The group carried a letter containing their demands and a collection of home-made vignettes symbolising the ring-road, the railway, the endangered species, farming, climate change and a 'mountain of money' representing various mining projects including the scandal-ridden Mount Tebeto quarry on the island of Fuerteventura.

After speaking to reporters and posing for photographs the four attempted to deliver their message to the parliament, but were prevented from entering for several minutes.

Eventually the armed national police and security guards allowed two members of the group to enter, although they insisted on x-raying the models for security threats.

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