White Tide Protest Planned Against Hospital Insular Closure

A Marea Blanca (White Tide) will take place on Saturday morning to protest against the closure of the Hospital insular in Arrecife.

Marea Blanca is an association of health service workers in Spain, named after the uniforms they wear, which has organised several protests against health service cuts in Spain in recent years. However, organisers of the demo stress that every citizen is welcome to join them.

Proposed plans to move staff and patients from the old hospital building to the new building opposite Emergencies at the general hospital have been opposed by many local groups, including the Medical College of Las Palmas, Lanzarote’s Socialist party and Nueva Canarias/Bloque Canarista. Many citizens whose elderly relatives have received care at the hospital are also likely to join the march.

The march will gather in the Parque Islas Canarias at 11 am on Saturday 20^th June before crossing the Charco to demonstrate outside the Hospital insular.