Yesterday May 23rd, a group of Members of the European Parliament belonging to the Regional Development Commission visited the Installations of the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (ORM). They also were given informatjon about the use of the European Funds for Regional Development which have been used to build world class sceintiric installations such as the Gran Telescopio Canarias, and the telescopes of the CTA (Cherenkov Telescope Array). The visit was in the framework of the visit by the Commisson to the island of La Palma to see directly the consequences of the eruption of the volcano, and to analyze the use of European funds for the economic recovery of the island.
The delegation was led my the MEP Constanze Krehl (S&D, Germany) and included Franc Bogovič (PPE, Slovenia) Alesandro Panza (ID, Italy) and Tsvetelina Penkova (S&D, Bulgaria The Spanish MEP’s were Cristina Maestre (S/&D) and Marco Ros (S&D). They were accompanied by the Delegate of the Government in the Canaries, Anselmo Pestana, and were guided by the Director of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, Rafael Rebolo López, the Deputy Director, Casiana Muñoz Tuñón, and the manager of the ORM Juan Carlos Pérez Arencibia.
They first visited the Visitor Centre, and the Cherenkov LST-1and Magic telescopes. Then they wnet up to the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC)and finally right up to the viewpoint of the Roque de los Muchachos from where they looked down on the peaks of the island, the Caldera of Taburiente, and especially the site of the Cumbrre Vieja volcano.
