One of the best views of Santa Cruz, and also one of the most emblematic, is the one offered from the Las Teresitas viewpoint. From there you can enjoy the breadth of chicharrera beach par excellence and the town of San Andrés. A second view that is also iconic, although more urban, is the one obtained from the Parque de Las Mesas, from where Santa Cruz unfolds at the feet of those who look at it from above. These two points in the capital are the ones that a leisure company has chosen for the installation of what would be the first zip-line or zip-line systems in the municipality. For this they have already addressed the Municipal Planning Office, to which they have presented the corresponding projects, requesting that the City Council rule on the urban feasibility for the installation of these zip lines.
As described in the projects, users could descend at speeds of between 79 and 100 kilometers per hour, by a cable that measures 950 meters, in the case of Las Mesas, and 905, in Las Teresitas, in something more of a minute. The Urban Planning Management has already issued the feasibility report, a document to which DIARIO DE AVISOS has had access, and in which it is detailed that the installation of a zip line (or zip line) on Las Teresitas beach has been studied with the start station at the viewpoint and the arrival station next to the TF-121 road in Igueste de San Andrés (over the car park). The second zip line would be the Parque de Las Mesas, with the starting station 520 meters from the park’s own road, an intermediate station located next to the Cueva Roja road, where the entrance to the Las Lecheras trail is located, and the arrival station near the soccer field, next to the existing parking lot.
In the description of this installation, it is explained that the zip line consists of a rope that connects two points at different heights, and that the visitors descend the rope using the trolley propelled solely by the action of gravity. Also, as there is no need for a motor and it consists of two poles connected by a rope and small start and finish platforms, it has a reduced impact on the landscape. It is stated that the construction technologies used are as easy to install as they are to remove, leaving no trace.
In general, the zip line has a departure station and an arrival station (also an intermediate one in the case of the proposal for the Parque de Las Mesas). The departure station is built directly on the ground and only the necessary excavation work is carried out for the placement of a small concrete plinth for the foundation of two 4.50-meter-high corten-coated steel pillars placed at a distance of 4 meters from each other. The base is completely buried and hidden from view, and the platforms are enclosed by a one meter high perforated corten steel parapet, in such a way as to have minimal impact on the surrounding landscape and environment.
The arrival or valley station is also placed at ground level. The work required is the construction of a completely underground concrete plinth that acts as ballast for the cable.
With these premises, the Urban Planning technicians, taking into account the planning in force, conclude that the planned actions must be conceived as provisional uses and works, something that must justify the project, for which they consider them viable.
Tables Park
According to the project, the facilities are easily accessible by vehicles that can climb the dirt slopes. They are close to existing trails or paths, within reach of users. The zip line consists of two consecutive lines. Zip line 1 has a length of 950 meters arranged in a north-south direction, with a drop of 226 meters. The cable has a slope of 23.80%. Zipline 2 is 575 meters long and has a drop of 81 meters. The slope is around 14.12%. The total duration of the flight is approximately one minute and 38 seconds. The potential capacity is 45 people/hour. Users can reach the maximum speed of 100 kilometers/hour. The zip lines are equipped with a 15 millimeter diameter main steel rope and a 12 millimeter diameter signal rope. Aerial signal balls are installed when the main rope is more than 60 meters above the ground.
The Little Teresitas
The responsible company proposes this attraction as a tourist renaissance and the remodeling of the viewpoint of Las Teresitas beach, which is currently in poor condition. He argues that zip-lining will increase the tourist appeal of the area, providing the opportunity to jump off the side of the cliff and admire the beach and ocean horizon from above in complete safety. The zipline consists of two 905-meter-long parallel ropes arranged in a west-east direction, descending the side of the cliff parallel to the beach on the north side of the road that leads to the beach. The unevenness described by the installation is 125 meters. During the descent, visitors can reach a maximum speed of 79 km/hour. The hourly flow of the installation can reach 35 people per line. The average flight time is approximately 1.5 minutes.
“The fact that there are entrepreneurs willing to invest means that there is a strong government”
The Councilor for Urban Planning, Carlos Tarife (PP), shows his satisfaction with two projects that “come to value the city as another tourist attraction.” “It is a different type of tourism from the one that has been practiced in the city, in which we have a lot of tourism linked to cruise ships, also to businesses and fairs, so, without a doubt, these types of projects are a further boost to the sector”, he added. The mayor also valued the attraction factor that these zip lines will mean for the population of other municipalities or even other islands.
For Tarife, this type of leisure “is a complement to the sports facilities that my colleague Alicia Cebrián has been developing, such as those at Las Teresitas”. In the Parque de Las Mesas “it will be one more way to value this space, for which its completion has already been announced”.
Tarife defends that “for us the most important thing is that there are businessmen who are committed to Santa Cruz, because that means that there is a strong government that is doing things well enough to invest in the municipality.”
