Santa Cruz de Tenerife starts today lthe first of the commercial campaigns of the year 2022 that “should be the recovery for the commercial sector and the restoration of the capital”, has indicated the mayor, José Manuel Bermúdez. The sales campaign is accompanied by an initiative of support by the Development Society, as stated by its person in charge, Alfonso Cabello, which aims to “continue supporting one of the most important sectors of the municipality, due to its ability to generate employment.”
Already from the early hours of the morning a intense commercial activity both in the queues at the accesses to the city, especially along Avenida de Manuel Hermoso, as well as at the doors of businesses, where many take the opportunity to make their changes and take advantage of the Discounts on sales that in some cases range up to 75%, although in most offers it is around 50%. A walk through downtown Castle street evidenced the presence of customers in front of the establishments, who were waiting their turn abroad to comply with the social distancing and mask measures typical of the level 3, and with the uncertainty of what the Canary Islands Governing Council scheduled for this afternoon.
In addition to the communication campaign, the parking lot in the area of the esplanade of the port remains open to facilitate access to the downtown area, and with the aim of “maintaining the positive trend at the end of the Christmas season, which was very irregular, according to the merchants themselves, with continuous fluctuations depending on political decisions that were taken at all times ”, has assured Bermúdez.
“It’s fundamental –Said the mayor- that the governments of the Canary Islands and the State provide certainty and that common sense be applied in decisions that directly and immediately affect sectors on which the municipal economy largely depends ”. Santa Cruz has continued to generate employment in 2021, with almost 10,000 contracts in December (50% more than in 2020) and with a number of unemployed already below the data from before the pandemic. “These records serve as an incentive to continue applying and even expand measures that we take in 2021 with respect to SMEs and self-employed in the municipality,” he said.
In this sense, the Councilor for Economic Promotion, Evelyn Alonso, He recalled that “since February of last year this municipality has managed to reduce unemployment figures to 20,889 people last December” and added that “we are already in indicators below those registered in May 2019 and the data once again confirm that Santa Cruz resists this crisis better than Tenerife or the Canary Islands ”and concludes by stating that“ in our city project we are creating jobs and maintaining the current one, being clear that SMEs and the self-employed are the base of the economy in Santa Cruz ”.
It should be remembered that a new tax cut will come into force in 2022 which will mean that around 12,500 SMEs and the self-employed will stop paying the garbage collection fee, while 90,000 families will benefit from a 10.5% reduction in their receipts.
“The year that has just begun”, added José Manuel Bermúdez, “must be that of the economic and social recovery, and that of the recovery of street activity, if sanitary conditions allow us, that is why it is essential that the political decisions that mark the sanitary restrictions are coherent and provide more certainty to the behavior of the general public and of citizens. the economic sectors, in particular ”. “Santa Cruz is ready to resume its activity, as soon as conditions allow it,” the mayor concluded.
The manager of Zona Centro, Ruth Dorta, has stated that “we are hopeful that the sales will be a continuation of the first days of January, where really the trade has been able to see positive results after a complex month of December full of ups and downs derived from the current situation.” He has described these first fifteen days of the year as “the most important, since they can undoubtedly mean the salvation of many small and medium-sized companies”.
For its part, the CEO of the Development Society, Alfonso Cabello, He explained that “the evolution of the health crisis has marked this Christmas season, which could have been better, so that the sector has its hope in a period of sales that begins, again, marked by uncertainty”. Cabello has highlighted the efforts of the commercial sector “to adapt to the successive changes in current regulations, a sector that will be the protagonist of a good part of the policies of this Government team during 2022”.
