The Port Authority of Santa Cruz de Tenerife continues to work for the Port of Fonsalía. The next step consists of proposing the inclusion of the area foreseen for the development of this dock in the Maritime Space Planning Plans (POEM). It is the document that analyzes and organizes human activities in maritime areas in order to achieve ecological, economic and social objectives. It is “a strategic instrument that facilitates a more optimal use of maritime space, reducing conflicts and promoting coexistence and synergies.” Its elaboration corresponds to the General Directorate of the Coast and the Sea of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge.
The proposal of the Port Authority of Tenerife, which has no jurisdiction over the future port projected in Guía de Isora –ascribed to the Government of the Canary Islands–, is based on the fact that this port area “is postulated” as an alternative to the Port of Los Cristianos, “before its difficulties in adapting to the growing demand associated with inter-island passenger and freight traffic ”. Likewise, it considers “appropriate” that said Plan takes into account the planning of the maritime space of the aforementioned infrastructure “so that its compatibility with the marine strategy of the Canarian marine demarcation can be established,” according to the public body attached to the Ministry of Transport. , Mobility and Urban Agenda.
The consultation and public information period of the Maritime Spatial Planning Plans (POEM) of the five Spanish marine demarcations, within the framework of the strategic environmental assessment procedure, will conclude on Wednesday, the 8th.
Coexist
The work of the POEMs is developed based on the premise that marine waters can be the object of coexistence between different uses and activities, taking into account that all this can be carried out without compromising the good environmental status of the marine environment.
The Port Authority of the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife will ensure in the procedure currently in process that the POEMs contemplate the presence of the ports of general interest in the province, without weighing down the development of their activity. It does so within the scope of its powers and in line with what was already reported last year, on the occasion of the preliminary consultation process for the strategic environmental assessment of the Maritime Space Planning Plans. It also seeks not to establish a series of navigation restrictions in the port environment that could make them less competitive.
Outside the scope of the POEM are the internal waters of the ports (zones I) and the external waters for access channels, waiting areas and anchoring (zones II) of the ports of general interest, already delimited and regulated by its own regulations. However, the Port Authority assures that “it will be ensured that the provisions for the expansion of port areas are contemplated in said plans.” Regarding the waters in the immediate surroundings of said zones II, “the need for the safety conditions linked to navigation to be preserved in the POEMs will be noted and their functionality not limited”.
Is justified
Carlos González, president of the Port Authority, has defended up to now that “Fonsalía is a necessary port, provided that environmental measures are complied with, respecting current regulations and the conservation of an important area from the perspective of ecology.” He said it a year and a half ago convinced that “the two areas will have to coexist. Can be done”. Defender that Fonsalía «would be the point of Tenerife that minimizes all the maritime routes between Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro», already then he was emphatic about the alternative to Granada: «The port of Granadilla has always been designed for the use industrial; to mix it all up would be to commit the same Santa Cruz mistake again ». With Fonsalía the routes with the “Green Islands” are reduced, if they resort to Granadilla, these would increase in length and duration.
For the problem of inter-island maritime communications in the Occidental province, “Los Cristianos will never be the solution.” At all times, Carlos González has shown that the Port Authority can only patch the traffic chaos that occurs in Los Cristianos linked to its port, “unless the port activity takes place elsewhere.”
–With passenger and freight traffic between Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro–
300,000 square meters of surface area attached to this port complex. The file for the construction of the port of Fonsalía began in 2001. A digital campaign to prevent its construction had yesterday more than 417,000 signatures of support. |
The Port of Fonsalía is a project intended for commercial use
The general figures of the project
, sports and fishing. Its construction is designed entirely in the sea, linked to land by a 122-meter, four-lane bridge and sidewalks. It would occupy an area of 64,000 square meters (6.4 hectares). A 739 meter long dock is envisaged, with five berths for commercial vessels; a 4,000 square meter building for the Maritime Station and 270 car parks, and two esplanades set up as areas for parking 820 cars. The sports dock is designed with an 840-meter curved sheltered dock, piers for 470 boats in 55,000 square meters (5.5 hectares), which would also house the leisure area. The investment in this work is estimated at more than 200 million euros. On land it has u
