The Municipality of Puerto de la Cruz and the ministries of Tourism and Territorial Planning of the Canary Islands Government will present this year a comprehensive plan that plans and reorganizes the future of the coastal neighborhood of Punta Bravathreatened by marine erosion and the uncontrolled occupation of the coastline. The councilor for Sustainable City, David Hernández (Portuense Citizen Assembly), assures that the first phase of this project will be a reality shortlybut it is only the beginning of a global intervention “that will be presented throughout 2022”.
This work, the content of which has not yet been made public, brings together a large number of small projects that were already planned, such as the improvement of sanitation, the installation of new viewpoints, the recovery of free spaces and the elimination of houses that are at risk of collapse. With the commitment of local government of offering housing alternatives for the affected people who, like those of the evicted houses in Pelinor streetthey will not be able to return to buildings threatened by the existence under their foundations of large caves undermined by the sea for decades.
This comprehensive project will make it possible to find a definitive solution to entrenched issues, such as those six houses evicted on Pelinor street since November 18, 2016 due to the serious risk of collapse. The investment required to try to secure the caves is enormous and has a great technical complexity, which does not guarantee its future either.
Once the possibility of intervening public money to save the houses that are seated on two caves created by marine erosion, one of them almost 11 meters deep and 160 square meters, the Porto City Council has committed to finding an alternative that benefits the affected residents and the general interest. The local goal is to reopen the alley and create some kind of public space, such as a lookout point, in the area now occupied by those homes.
The beginning of the great project for this coastal neighborhood will be the so-called Coastal Park of Punta Bravabetween Punta Brava beach and Tegueste street, which will begin with “two actions located at the viewpoint next to the Ermita de la Santa Cruz and in the access area to Playa Jardínwhich will consist of refurbishment works and recovery of traffic easements and access to the sea, and replacement of part of the sanitation network, which causes large environmental impacts that are sought to be mitigated with this action.
The budget for this phase, which is fully covered by the General Directorate of Tourist Infrastructure, amounts to 375,574 euros. The Porto City Council is working to try to unblock this first performance, after an unfavorable first technical report.
