The Commonwealth of Abona wants to import the model of the Commonwealth of the Southeast of Gran Canaria “because of the experience, the baggage of management in the field of water, desalinated water and public services”, explains Sebastián Martín, president of the Technical Commission and mayor of Arico, who together with Granadilla de Abona and San Miguel de Abona form this association of municipalities in the Southeast of Tenerife.
The constitution of the Mancomunidad de Abona is approved by the municipal plenary sessions and a technical commission draws up the Statutes that, foreseeably, will be approved next July. That will mean that, in all likelihood, “the three municipalities will be constituted as a commonwealth before the end of the year.” From there, they will be able to provide service to 80,000 inhabitants of the south of Tenerife, pointed out the mayor of Granada, José Domingo Regalado.
Sebastián Martín, José Domingo Regalado and Arturo González, mayor of San Miguel de Abona, yesterday visited the facilities of the Commonwealth of the Southeast of Gran Canaria. The objective was to learn about the work carried out by this body, which has 32 years of experience in which they have combined services related to water desalination, the water cycle, waste collection and public lighting.
Ingenio, Agüimes and Santa Lucía are the reference in management of desalinated water, water and public services
“We have come to the right place and at the right time,” reflected the mayor of Arico. Sebastián Martín valued “the experience and great trajectory of the Commonwealth of the Southeast of Gran Canaria, which is reflected in the good management of issues such as water and energy, but also in the shared management of municipal public services” .
The mayors recalled that Granadilla de Abona, Arico and San Miguel de Abona are geographically similar to the municipalities in the southeast of Gran Canaria (Santa Lucía de Tirajana, Ingenio and Agüimes), “because they also have a lot of wind and a lot of sun, as well as with a significant weight of agriculture. In this context, the visit made yesterday by the southern councilors “responds to the desire to learn from the benefits, but also from the obstacles they have encountered so as not to make the same mistakes,” said the mayor of San Miguel de Abona, Arturo González, for whom the exchange of ideas “has given encouragement to move forward”.
A radical transformation
For her part, the mayor of Ingenio, Ana Hernández, highlighted the union of the three joint municipalities of Gran Canaria, “strong enough to continue year after year, whoever is governing.” The councilor maintains that “the work carried out has paid off,” she added. In this regard, his counterpart from Agüimes, Óscar Hernández, also assured that this region of Gran Canaria “has been radically transformed thanks to the figure of the Commonwealth of the Southeast”.
During their visit, the mayors of Tenerife got to know the photovoltaic installation, the desalination plant and the treatment plant managed by the Mancomunidad del Sureste de Gran Canaria, as well as the wind turbine that it has in its own facilities.
Yesterday, the Abona joint ventures got to know the work and the facilities in the southeast of Gran Canaria
Currently, it is working on an ambitious Sustainable Development Plan, which prioritizes the use and promotion of renewable energies, water and energy saving and good waste management, which has made the Commonwealth of the Southeast an example and reference for other Canary regions and the country.
