Name change request for Zonzamas dump

Yaiza Mayor Óscar Noda has presented a motion to the Cabildo to change the name of Lanzarote’s dump to avoid confusion with the Zonzamas archaeological site.

Zonzamas was the native chieftain of Lanzarote when the explorer Martín Ruiz de Avendaño put ashore on Lanzarote in 1377, and the settlement where he lived was called the “palace of Zonzamas”. The name was later also given to the volcano that overlooks the settlement.

That mountain, Montaña de Zonzamas, is now also the site of the Zonzamas Environmental Complex where Lanzarote’s rubbish is prepared for recycling or dumped as landfill. In addition, a secondary school in Arrecife also bear’s the ancient king’s name.

According to Noda, “Our respect for our history is called into question when we don’t know whether the name Zonzamas refers to a school, a tip or a historical site.” He has called for the renaming of the dump, and for local authorities to negotiate with Google Maps so that the archaeological site is always top of search results.