The forum, titled 'Legal Response to an Emergency: The Right to Recover the Value of What Was Lost', will take place on Thursday, April 23, at 9:00 AM, in the CANARIAS7 Auditorium. The event will also be streamed live on canarias7.es.
The session will particularly highlight La Palma's experience after the volcanic eruption in 2021, an event that marked a turning point in reconstruction management. Beyond merely replacing infrastructure, the process has underscored the need for a specific regulatory framework to protect the rights of those affected, maintain social cohesion, and facilitate a return to normalcy in transformed areas.
Among the featured speakers is Francisco Villar Rojas, professor of Administrative Law at the University of La Laguna and coordinator of the legal framework for reconstruction. Villar Rojas will discuss the main regulatory challenges arising from such emergencies, including the valuation of affected land, the adaptation of urban planning legislation, and the creation of legal instruments to rebuild, relocate, or compensate victims.
One of the central themes of the presentation will be the recognition of an innovative principle in the legal system: the right of affected individuals to recover the value of what was lost, developed from specific legislation approved after the eruption.
This approach has allowed for the development of a reconstruction model that combines private initiative in the recovery of homes and farms with public action in infrastructure, thereby ensuring territorial continuity and the rootedness of the population.
Subsequently, Francisco Suárez Álamo, director of CANARIAS7, will interview Nieves Lady Barreto Hernández, counselor of Presidency, Public Administrations, Justice and Security of the Government of Canarias. The interview will focus on the institutional response to these types of emergencies and the policies implemented to address their consequences.
In summary, the forum will analyze how La Palma's experience has become a benchmark for future catastrophes, demonstrating that recovery must go beyond physical reconstruction, integrating the recognition of rights, regulatory adaptation, and the protection of the social and economic fabric.
