Five workers, four workers and a foreman, form the brigade of the trails. They take care of the maintenance, cleaning and guarantee of safety in the natural spaces of Tenerife. They have completed work on half the network, 600 kilometers, during the second half of the year.
Management of the Natural Environment and Security. This is called the area of the Council directed by the counselor Isabel García. Makes more sense than never at the time of analyzing the role of the crew that deals with the maintenance, cleaning and guarantee of safe space in the Insular Network of Trails. A network of paths, roads and forest tracks that reach 1,200 kilometers. Five workers, four specialized operators and a foreman carry out their usual tasks on them. In approximately half, about 600, they have completed the work during the second semester of the year to ensure the tranquility of those who pass by. There are more and more in these times of the covid-19 pandemic.
The counselor Isabel García especially values the work of «a team of professionals that works to improve the state of the roads throughout the island and to ensure that the people who pass through them are not in any danger ”. During the second semester of the year, they have intervened to make improvements in more than 600 kilometers of the island’s network, approximately half as it reaches 1,200.
“The best maintenance begins with the good use of the roads”
Last May, it was approved to allocate 567,271 euros to a commission with the public company Gesplan for the elimination of risks in the layout of the trails. This is the first time that, from the Cabildo de Tenerife, a team has specifically dedicated to its revision and improvement.
In 137 specific locations, where risks and deficiencies in safety have been identified, work has been done to readapt and improve them. Among other actions through the construction of concrete walls, the placement of railings and chains, the widening of the path box, clearings, small masonry works, the installation of risk signs – directional, caution, closures, prohibitions, etc. .–, the construction of stairs or speed bumps or the removal of debris from landslides. Always in line with the environment and respect at all times for the characteristics of the area.
“The Tenerife Trail Network has approximately 1,200 kilometers”, the counselor points out. He adds that “after receiving reports on the state of these roads, we have set up a team to improve those points where people’s safety was compromised.” García highlights the task carried out by this “very complete team of professionals” whose role “is new” in the area’s work strategy.
Isabel García points out that “these tasks complement the usual ones carried out in the different natural spaces; however, it is important that the population respect and be aware that the maintenance of these roads must begin with their proper use.
Some 580,000 tourists visit Tenerife every year for hiking, not including island users, “so the network of trails is not only an infrastructure to be conserved, but must also be safe for those who travel them,” concludes the Minister García.
