Pedro Anatael Meneses, Socialist senator, former president of the Port Authority and expert in maritime transport. The solvent opinion of a lover of the sea with the capacity to intervene in the port debate in recent days. It is clear to him: “The only current alternative to the maritime traffic of Los Cristianos with La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro is a port that has already been built, but not finished: that of Granadilla.”
Meneses takes a tour of part of the maritime history of Tenerife. He assures: “I was a defender of Fonsalía, but now I say that the collapse of Los Cristianos, which we already anticipated in the 90s, cannot wait at least ten years for its construction without an alternative.” That is why he proposes Granadilla and discards some “interested” myth. Like that «the ferries cannot operate there because of the winds. That is not true. Commercial traffic boats on the Island can dock there perfectly. It is enough with several ramps, which are prefabricated and mobile, placed in the already finished riverside area. And a maritime station ». Los Cristianos would remain as a marina and for pleasure boats or excursions. He acknowledges that «I opposed Granadilla, but now it seems like the alternative because it is not only industrial. As Los Cristianos, it is a port of general interest with the modal concept of road-ship-road ». A possible future union link with Arinaga, in Gran Canaria. Santa Cruz, another possibility, is “unviable” due to the long distance of the journey. From Fonsalía, Meneses values ”tourism to contemplate the cetaceans that increases every day.” And remember that “today the port is not possible by law.”
He rejects the possibility of burying Chayofita avenue proposed by the mayor of Arona, José Julián Mena. He calls it “nonsense.” It recalls the solution that he proposed for the Port of Los Cristianos – the expansion – in 1993 with Manuel Barrios (PSOE) as mayor. He summarizes: “It had the consensus of all the agents involved, but it was rejected by the plenary.” It already included a direct connection to the TF-1. Meneses goes with class through the different positions in his party and concludes: “History repeats itself.”
