May 12, 2012 was a historic morning for the municipality of Garachico because it recovered its port three centuries after the Trevejo volcano snatched its status as the main port infrastructure of Tenerife.
That year the municipality wrote a new page of its seafaring history, not without difficulties, with the hopes placed in a work that took 34 months because it had to overcome the setbacks caused by the storms.
An infrastructure that reached 40 million euros and that, according to what the then President of the Government, Paulino Rivero, said, “is the support foot to generate an economic activity that responds in the region to the needs of creating jobs.”
A decade later, this objective is still not fully achieved because the port, the only one in the entire North of the Island, is still incomplete. The commercial, restaurant and services area, the dry marina, the cleaning of the entrance and access in good conditions continue to be pending issues.
As far as occupancy is concerned, the infrastructure is at its maximum with 194 berths for sports boats and sailboats, confirmed from Puertos Canarios, the entity that manages it.
It is also certified by the mayor, José Heriberto González, who highlights that from its inauguration to the present, few improvements have been made. “Some wetlands and prefabricated structures, bathrooms and toilets were placed and the circulation area was completed, which was also fenced. The berths work, the fishing part, and we have a fairly generous esplanade that allows families to enjoy, walk and children ride bicycles. The problem is that we are talking about a port that needs a major action. We are not talking about improvements but about structural works”, he emphasizes.
One of its greatest demands is access in conditions because it will affect the entire region. The current one is not ideal because it is done through the so-called San Roque curve, “quite closed and dangerous”, describes González.
In this sense, remember that in the General Planning Plan (PGO) of Garachico another place is indicated in which the construction of a roundabout is contemplated that will allow traffic to be diverted to various points in the town, such as the historic center and Avenida Maritime and that will benefit the entire region since this last road, an island road of general interest, is the connection with the Low Island.
According to the president, a study of alternatives has been carried out on this route that Puertos Canarios commissioned with a chosen one. “Now we need a project, have the money and put the works out to tender. It is important because without this access the port limps quite a bit”, he insists. However, he points out that this action must be undertaken by the Ministry of Public Works, Transport and Housing of the Government of the Canary Islands as it is an access to a facility of the Autonomous Community. An affirmation with which it coincides from the entity.
Another demand is the cleaning of the mouth due to the existence of rocks at a shallow depth that “have caused problems on occasion, because there are sailboats that have shallower depths” and “it makes access difficult for larger boats,” he says.
In this regard, Puertos Canarios confirms that the cleaning is contemplated with a budget of 2.5 million euros, but previously it is necessary to lower the entrance, an action that is outside its jurisdiction because it is the responsibility of the General Directorate of the Coast and the Sea .
The third “leg” that remains pending is the execution of the land area, which includes a multifunctional building with a service area, a shopping and restaurant area, a gas station and a dry marina. It was decided by Puertos Canarios that it be through private initiative “but so far nothing real has materialized to develop it despite the direct economic benefits that it would generate for the regional department and the indirect ones for the municipality, because jobs will be created work and there will be a greater consumption in the locality”, assures the mayor.
In 2013, the year after its inauguration, the multifunctional building was awarded for 3.4 million but the company did not execute it and it was necessary to rescue the concession. Since then, “interested parties have appeared with draft proposals but they never materialized in a formal project with all the corresponding permits and authorizations,” they indicate from Puerto Canarios.
Faced with this reality, González believes that it is necessary to “try to find new formulas to be able to tender the commercial part”. From Puertos Canarios they make it clear that the idea is to maintain the current management model, in which berths depend on the entity.
The sports and fishing port was one of the four works contemplated by the Isla Baja Consortium to relaunch the region. It was inaugurated in the midst of an economic crisis, in which any pharaonic work seemed impossible. However, Garachico got it. Nine years earlier, at the height of the economy, the Buenavista golf course did so while the El Tanque Ecomuseum had to wait almost 20 years to become a reality and the regeneration of the freshwater beach in Los Silos is still pending. since 1997.
“The works in Tenerife take time to arrive, they are done very occasionally, and also, they are not finished,” reflects José Heriberto González.
